Tomorrow is the night before the Danish holiday St. Bededag. A day where several old holidays have been merged into one day. It’s a tradition to eat soft, buttery buns the night before and toast the leftovers the day after, as the bakers have the following day off. Eat them with a proper layer of butter. These buns are cold risen, kneaded and shaped in the morning and baked in the evening.
COLD RISE WHEAT BUNS
12 BUNS.
15 G FRESH YEAST
2½ DL WHOLE MILK
2 M EGG
50 G SUGAR
1½-2 TSP. GROUND CARDAMOM
½ TSP SALT
100 G VERY SOFT BUTTER
570 G FLOUR
Dissolve the yeast in the cold milk.
Whisk egg and sugar with cardamom and salt
Whisk the egg mixture into the milk
Knead approx. 500 g of flour in, and just before the dough gsthered completely, add the butter and then knead the rest to the flour into the dough.
Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured table and knead it smooth and supple. The dough will be very soft, but it should not be too dry.
Shape the dough immediately into 12 buns of approx. 90 g each.
Place them in a roasting pan, approx. 20×30 cm, lined with baking paper.
Place the buns with 1½ cm. space between them in the pan. Cover a damp tea towel and place the pan in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius.
Brush the buns with eggwash.
Bake the buns for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes.
Let the buns cool off slightly before they are split (and possibly roasted) and served with lots of butter.
