Name: Banana cardamom buns
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 12 buns
Cuisine: Nordic
Ingredients: 250 ml milk, lukewarm; 11 g dried yeast (1 sachet); 1 ripe banana, mashed (about 120 g peeled); 80 g sugar; 1 egg; 2 tsp ground cardamom; ½ tsp salt; 500 g plain flour (plus a little for dusting); 100 g butter, soft; 75 g butter, very soft; 60 g brown sugar; 1 tbsp ground cinnamon; 1 egg, beaten; 2 tbsp pearl sugar

4 October is korvapuustipäivä — cinnamon bun day — here in Finland, and every bakery in Helsinki smells of cardamom. This is my banana twist on a classic pulla dough: one mashed banana goes in with the milk, and the buns stay soft for an extra day.

Freshly ground cardamom makes a huge difference, so crush the seeds from green pods in a mortar if you can. Pre-ground works too; just use a little more.

Timing your bake

The dough needs about 45 minutes for the first rise and 30 for the second. Start roughly two hours before you want warm buns — and use the timers in the recipe below, they keep running if you switch tabs.

Banana cardamom buns

Timing your bake