Coffee Talk Guide — The Recipe Edition:
Orange Cardamom Scrolls
This was our Saturday morning staple when we still had the cafe, and they were so good that our regulars would line up for them.
Perfect for peeling apart to dunk in fresh coffee.
Ingredients:
Dough
- 700g bakers flour
- 300mL milk
- 130g sugar
- 1 tbs cardamom pods
- 150g butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- 10g dry yeast
Filling
- 200g butter
- 90g brown sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tbs almond meal
- Zest of 1 orange
Syrup
- Juice of 1/2 an orange
- 50g white sugar
Method:
1. Warm the milk in the microwave and add the yeast. Stir and let sit for 10 mins to hydrate the yeastieboys.
While that's underway, toast the cardamom in a pan and grind them into powder (a little electric spice grinder is a solid investment for $10 or sweat over a mortar & pestle).
2. Sift flour, then mix in sugar, salt and ground cardamom. Once fully mixed, rub in soft butter. Once all crumbly, pour in the warm milk/yeast, crack the egg in and mix together.
It will come together in a big sticky mess, so tip the dough out onto the bench and begin kneading.
After a minute or two, the gluten will kick in and the tasty blob will start to bind together (including what's on your fingers and bench!) and you'll soon be left with a smooth, soft dough ball.
3. Wipe out dough bowl, tuck the smooth dough ball in and cover.
Leave it in a warm place for a good hour to increase in size (this dough won't rise as much as bread because of the milk, egg and butter richness).
4. While we wait for the dough to rise, let's make our filling! If your butter isn't soft/melted enough, melt your butter in a microwave or on a double boiler.
Once butter is soft/melted, mix in the brown sugar, cinnamon, almond meal and orange zest. Fully mix and set aside.
5. Take the warm, stretchy dough and roll it out on the bench into a big rectangle. We used to roll it to about 50x30cm, at 8mm thick.
Spread the filling evenly over the dough and carefully roll it up into a long sausage (try not to squish the filling out). Use your hands to massage it all into an even thickness along the dough-snake.
6. Preheat oven to 210 degrees before we cut our scroll shapes.
Using a large, sharp, flat bladed knife, slice the dough on alternating 30 degree angles (oil or butter your knife to make cleaner cuts).
Place the scrolls, thin side up on a greased baking tray and rest for 30 mins or so.
7. Brush with egg wash for colour & shine before pop into the oven.
They'll take 10 to 15 mins, as you want a nice brown on top but just barely cooked dough inside.
8. While they're in the oven, let's make the syrup.
Squeeze some of the juice from the zested orange into a pot and heat it with the sugar until it comes to a boil. Once boiling, turn off the heat and let cool.
9. Pull your scrolls out of the oven and place on a cooling rack.
After a 10-min cool down, brush a solid layer of syrup on each one. And try to leave some for breakfast, if you can.