Cardamom Explosion Buns

STEP 1: GRIND THE CARDAMOM

Split all the green cardamom pods and tip out the small black seeds, discarding the papery husks. Grind the seeds to a coarse powder in a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder. Do this for all four cardamom quantities in one session, then divide the ground seed into separate covered piles: 1 tbsp (7 g) for the dough, 2 tsp (5 g) for the filling, and the crushed pods for the pastry cream and the syrup kept whole. Pre-ground cardamom will not carry a bake that has the spice in its name; the volatile oils are largely gone within weeks of grinding.

STEP 2: MAKE THE TANGZHONG

Whisk the 25 g bread flour into the 120 ml milk in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens to a loose paste that holds a trail from the whisk, about 2–3 minutes, or 149°F / 65°C. Scrape into the mixer bowl and leave until barely warm. The cooked-flour paste pre-gelatinises some of the starch, which lets the dough carry more liquid and keeps the buns soft into a second day.

STEP 3: MIX AND KNEAD THE DOUGH

Add the warm milk and yeast to the cooled tangzhong and leave for five minutes. Add the bread flour, granulated sugar, the 7 g of ground cardamom, salt and egg. Mix on low with the dough hook until it comes together, then knead on medium-low for 6 minutes. With the mixer running, add the softened butter a tablespoon at a time, waiting for each piece to disappear before adding the next. Knead a further 8–10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, glossy and pulls cleanly from the bowl sides while still tacky to the touch. It should stretch to a translucent windowpane without tearing.

STEP 4: FIRST PROOF, THEN CHILL

Cover and prove at room temperature for 1–1 1/2 hours, until doubled. Flatten the dough into a rectangle, wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. A cold, firm dough rolls to an even thickness and cuts to consistent strip widths, which is the whole game in a twelve-identical brief. Rolling warm dough is the single most common cause of a batch that varies.

STEP 5: MAKE THE PASTRY CREAM

Bring the milk and the 12 crushed pods to a bare simmer, then cover and infuse off the heat for 20 minutes. Strain. Whisk the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and salt to a smooth paste, temper in the warm milk, return to the pan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens and bubbles heavily for a full 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the butter. Press cling film directly onto the surface and chill until cold. It should be thick enough to hold a piped shape without running.

STEP 6: MAKE THE SYRUP

Bring the water, sugar and the 8 crushed pods to a boil, simmer for 2 minutes, then cover and infuse off the heat until needed. Strain and stir in the vanilla extract before use. Keep it warm.

STEP 7: FILL, FOLD AND CUT

Beat the very soft butter, light brown sugar, the 5 g of ground cardamom, cinnamon, salt and vanilla bean paste to a smooth spreadable paste. Roll the chilled dough to a rectangle roughly 16 by 12 inches (40 by 30 cm) with a long side facing you, and spread the filling over the whole surface. Fold the left third over the centre, then the right third over that, as for a letter, giving three layers and two filling seams. Trim the two short edges square and cut twelve strips about 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, cutting through the folded layers. Weigh each strip and even the batch out by trimming the heaviest and adding trim to the lightest until all twelve sit within a few grams of one another, around 85 g each.

STEP 8: SHAPE THE KNOTS

Take one strip, stretch it gently to about 14 inches (35 cm) and twist it three or four turns. Wind the twisted rope twice around two fingers, tuck the tail through the loops and press the end underneath. Set on a lined sheet, six per pan. The precise knot matters less than repeating whichever knot you use identically twelve times, so settle the method on the first bun and do not improve on it for the remaining eleven.

STEP 9: SECOND PROOF

Cover loosely and prove for 45–60 minutes, until visibly puffed and slow to spring back when pressed. Heat the oven to 400°F / 200°C conventional, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. Under-proving here reads as a dense, tight crumb; over-proving collapses the knot definition. Judge by feel, not by the clock.

STEP 10: BAKE

Brush thoroughly with the egg wash, working it into the crevices of the knot. Bake for 11–13 minutes, swapping and rotating the sheets at the halfway point, until deep golden and 190°F / 88°C at the centre. Colour should be even across all twelve; pull the whole tray rather than individual buns so the batch stays matched.

STEP 11: GLAZE, FILL AND FINISH

Brush the hot buns generously with the warm cardamom syrup and scatter with Swedish pearl sugar while the glaze is still tacky. Cool for 15 minutes. Fit the piping bag with the narrow nozzle, insert it into the side of each bun through a gap in the knot, and pipe in the chilled pastry cream until you feel slight resistance, roughly 1 1/2 tablespoons per bun. Wipe the entry point. Serve the same day; these are at their best within four hours of baking.