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Recipe
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Finnish Cinnamon Buns

Make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature. Dissolve the salt, sugar, cardamom and fresh yeast into the warmed up milk. Set aside approx. 200 ml flour. It should be added at the very end. Knead the dough for a while to improve elasticity. Finally, add the soft butter or margarine and continue kneading until the dough is smooth. Add the rest of the flour, if necessary. When making small buns, the dough can be softer than when making a twist. Place the dough into a bowl, tightly covered with plastic and allow to rise until doubled.

Divide the risen dough into two pieces. Roll out the dough into a flat rectangle, about 30×60 cm. Spread about half of the butter on the dough and sprinkle with half the sugar, and cinnamon according to your taste. Roll up the dough into a cylinder, leaving the seam against the work surface. Cut diagonal slices, sized 3 cm on the wider side and 1.5 cm on the narrower side. Lift the pieces onto the work surface, narrower side upwards. Press the middle all the way down to the work surface with your thumb. Place the cinnamon bun on a baking sheet and let it rise under a tea towel. Make more cinnamon buns from the remaining dough in the same way.

Brush the buns with egg and sprinkle with decorating sugar. Bake at 225°C/440F for about 10-15 minutes.

Recipe

Serbian Pork Stew

Leskovac took its name long ago from its famed hazelnut woods, lešnik being the Serbian word for hazelnut. Today it is better know for its red peppers. The people of Leskovac speak a dialect of Serbian which preserves many features of the Old Church Slavonic language and even many Serbs find the local difficult to understand. Ajvar is known throughout the land and beyond as the name for a preparation of roast peppers, preserved in jars for use throughout the winter. Leskovac is also known for its fantastic barbecue meats: you’ll probably arrive in the town by car or bus, but once there you must try the Leskovac Train;(leskovački voz), an assortment of grilled meats which arrive at the table one after another like wagons. Nor should you overlook Leskovačka Mućkalica, a spicy medley of peppers and grilled meats, much prized among gourmets for its spicy flavour.

Bun dough

  • 500 ml milk
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 200 ml caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp cardamom
  • 1.2 – 1.4 litres of plain white flour
  • 50 g fresh yeast
  • 200 g butter or margarine
  • 1 egg for glazing

For basting

  • Egg

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