Kanel snegle – what I always picked when I, as a child, was lucky enough to get free choice at the bakery on a Sunday morning.
It is one of many traditional Danish pastries – butter filled, crisp on the outside and soft, sweet and cinnamony on the inside.
Irresistible to be honest and still my first choice today when I am lucky enough to be in Denmark….
Recipe is from Froeken Jensen’s Bagebog – classic Danish cookbook based on recipes from the 1900’s.
Kanel Snegle
250g flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
2 tbs sugar
150g butter
75ml milk
25g fresh yeast (or 2 sachets dry yeast)
Butter/Cinnamon Spread
75g butter
50g icing sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
To make the dough
- Mix flour, salt, cardamom and sugar together
- Add the butter to the floury mix – and combine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
- In a small saucepan heat the milk gently until it is luke warm then remove from heat source
- Dissolve the fresh yeast in the luke warm milk with a wooden spoon
- Add the milk to the flour and combine the two; knead until the dough forms a soft ball – slightly sticky and shiny
- Place the kneaded dough ball in a clean bowl and cover with a tea towel
- Leave the bowl in a warm place to rise for 20-30 minutes
- Pre-heat oven to 225C
To make the spread
- Ensure butter is room temperature
- In a bowl, combine butter, cinnamon and icing sugar and keep stirring until a sweet, cinnamon butter is created
Creating the swirls
- Once the dough has risen, roll it into a rectangular shape on a floured surface
- With a big spoon, a spatula or other easy tool, cover the dough with the cinnamon spread
- Loosely roll the dough into a sausage shape – roll it by length
- With a sharp knife, cut slices of the dough (about two cm thick), and place these on a lined baking tray
- Once the tray is full, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm place for 15 minutes
- Once completely risen, brush with egg or cream to create a golden colour, and place in the pre-heated oven
- Bake for about 12 minutes
- Once brown and cooked remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack
- When cooler, decorate with icing (icing sugar and a little water mixed together)
- Enjoy them when still slightly warm – that is when they are at their best!
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