Finnish Cinnamon Rolls (Korvapuustit)

Recipe posted in response to a request, and edited once the poster finally conquered her fear of yeast. Finnish korvapuustit are not turned on their side but sit on their bottom - hence step 12! You can of course turn them on their sides too, and call them "kierrepullat" in Finnish instead! Please note that the amount of gluten in flour varies, so use the amount listed here only as a guideline - while it's perfect for me, you might find you need more or less!

• Ready In: 1 hr
• Yields: 20 cinnamon rolls

Ingredients

• 25  g  yeast
• 75  g butter or 75  g margarine
• 300  ml milk
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 50  ml sugar
• 3⁄4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 750  ml all-purpose flour

• Filling

• 100  g butter or 100  g margarine, room temperature
• 100  ml sugar
• 2  teaspoons cinnamon

• For Brushing

• 1  egg, beaten for brushing

Directions

1. Crumble yeast into a bowl.
2. Melt butter, add milk and gently heat the mixture to 37°C.
3. Pour over yeast and mix until yeast has dissolved.
4. Add salt, sugar, cardamom and stir; add about 200 ml of the flour and stir.
5. Add the rest of the flour and knead dough by hand until smooth and elastic, and it no longer sticks to the bowl (this shouldn't take long) nor to your hand (which takes a bit longer).
6. Sprinkle some flour on top and cover: let rise for 30 minutes.
7. Mix the filling ingredients together.
8. Lightly flour the baking board and turn the dough on it.
9. Roll dough out to a 40 x 60 cm square.
10. Spread the filling on the dough and roll it up tightly, starting from the longer side of the square.
11. Cut the roll in 3-4 cm pieces.
12. "Open" the pieces by pressing the centre of each piece with a handle of a knife so that the centre is pressed down and the sides spread.
13. Place rolls on a parchmented baking sheet, cover and let rise for 30 minutes.
14. Brush the rolls with beaten egg.
15. Bake at 225 C for about 10 minutes.
16. Cover the rolls while cooling.