Sourdough Cardamom Rolls with Orange Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Sourdough Cardamom Rolls with Orange Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Prep Time: 2 ½ - 3 ½ hours, overnight rest period

Cook Time: 25 - 30 minutes

Servings: 8 large buns (or 10 smaller buns)

Ingredients:

Dough

• 290 g all purpose flour, a little more for rolling out the dough
• 30 g bread flour
• 20 g whole wheat flour
• 25 g organic cane sugar
• 7 g salt
• 180 g whole milk, room temperature
• 130 g active sourdough starter
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 80 g softened unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

Cardamom filling

• 3 tbsp softened unsalted butter
• 80 g organic cane sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Orange maple cream cheese frosting

• 226 g (8 oz) full fat cream cheese, softened
• 57 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, room temp
• 65 g (½ cup) powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• ½ tbsp orange zest
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

1. DOUGH: Whisk the egg, milk, and sourdough starter in a medium bowl until homogenous. Add flours, sugar, and salt to a standing mixer with a dough hook.
2. Turn the mixer on low, and slowly stream in the wet mixture to the dry mixture until incorporated. Turn the mixer to medium and knead for 1-2 more minutes, then let rest for 20 minutes.
3. Prepare your softened butter. After the 20 minutes of rest, turn the mixer on low, and add one chunk of softened butter at a time to the dough. Once all the butter is incorporated, turn the mixer on medium-high and knead for about 8 minutes. At this point, the dough will look very smooth and pliable.
4. Cover the mixing bowl with a towel and/or saran wrap, and let rise at room temperature for about 10 - 12 hours, or until doubled (I like to do this overnight).
5. CARDAMOM FILLING: Once the 10-12 rising period is nearly done, combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl and mix until well combined. Set aside.
6. BACK TO THE DOUGH: Flour the counter with all-purpose flour and dump out the enriched dough. Gently roll it out into a large rectangle, about 17 x 12 inches. Spread the cardamom filling evenly across the dough.
7. Begin rolling the dough onto itself, starting on the long side closest to you. Use a bench scraper if needed because the dough will be sticky/soft.
8. Once completely rolled and the seam side is down against the surface of the table, use a sharp knife or a string of flavorless floss to cut the log into 8 even rounds. Place them swirl side up in a buttered glass or cast iron pan.
9. Recover with the towel/plastic wrap and let the buns proof at room temp until they’ve puffed slightly in size, but not nearly doubled, about 2 -3 hours.
10. When they’re done proofing, preheat the oven to 400 F. Put the cardamom rolls in, decrease the temp to 375 F, and bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Allow to cool.
11. ORANGE MAPLE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING: Add the softened butter and cream cheese to a standing mixer and beat with a paddle attachment until well combined. Add the maple syrup, powdered sugar, orange zest, vanilla and salt and beat until lightened in color, about 3-5 minutes.
12. Spread the cardamom rolls with the frosting, and garnish with a cardamom pod.