recipe: fluffy cardamom & orange Christmas buns (juleboller) with custard and hazelnuts
tender sweet buns with an optional custard topping + hand-kneading instructions
To put it simply, juleboller are like Danish hot cross buns. Sort of. They are both spiced, fluffy, fruit-studded sweet buns that can be eaten fresh or sliced and toasted with a slathering of butter the day after they are made.
Where they differ most is how they are spiced: Juleboller leans considerably bright and zesty with a minimal spice blend, whereas hot cross buns tend to be warmer and heavily spiced. Typical juleboller mix-ins are raisins, orange zest, and dark chocolate. The dough is spiced with cardamom and cinnamon, but not so much cinnamon that it tints the dough.
You can find juleboller topped with chopped hazelnuts or almonds, but my favorite buns, from Flere Fugle, are topped with hazelnuts and a spiral of custard before baking. I have replicated this take here, and, since I can’t share a julebolle from Flere Fugle with you, I hope you decide to try it for yourself (you can also opt out of the custard topping).
These started with a modified classic hot cross bun dough, but I yearned for a more tender bun. I turned to kefir, my go-to buttermilk proxy, to maximize the tenderness of the dough. The result is a flavorful, fluffy bun with a bit more hydration than a hot cross bun.
My initial recipe is now a draft for a hot cross bun—as I prefer a heftier bake for something I intend to toast and eat for breakfast—but I am happy to inform you that you can slice and toast these Christmas buns the next day. Just store the buns in a cool environment and toast them cut-side down in a buttered skillet.
Some notes on Hand-kneading:
I don't like hand-kneading in the least bit, but being left to my own devices (or lack thereof) has increased my comfort levels when it comes to kneading enriched dough. My mixer recently broke in the middle of testing a brioche recipe, and I had to work cold butter in by hand for the first time in a long time. I swore off testing more brioche recipes until I replaced my mixer, but then I tried the juleboller at Flere Fugle and knew I had to make it at home.
My hands are small and don’t agree with the repetitive motions and force required to knead most dough. But, after kneading about 8 doughs by hand in the last 3 or so weeks, I have found some methods that work well for me:
Autolyse: After mixing the flour with all of the liquid, cover your bowl with a damp towel and walk away for 20-60 minutes. This will strengthen the gluten bonds and smooth out the dough, making it easier to work with and cutting back on kneading time. Pop the dough into your fridge if your kitchen is warm.
Achieve windowpane before adding the butter: Butter inhibits gluten bonds, so it is necessary to build the gluten before adding the butter. Knead the dough until it passes the windowpane test (i.e., you can slowly stretch a small piece of the dough thin enough that light passes through it without tearing).
Chill the dough if it is too messy: Your dough will most likely split once you add the butter, but keep kneading until it comes together—I promise it will! Your butter can be soft, but it shouldn’t feel like an oil slick. If your butter is becoming too greasy, use a bench scraper to transfer all of your dough and butter to a parchment-lined plate, cover, and chill in the freezer until firm. Then knead again. You may need to re-chill the dough if your kitchen is warm.
Use bowl and bench scrapers: Sticky doughs are easier to work with if you have a bench or bowl scraper on hand. You can use either to pick up and fold the dough on your work surface, but I have been a fan of kneading directly in my bowl with a convex bowl scraper: I scrape down the sides of my bowl with the convex side of a bowl scraper, picking up and folding the dough over itself in a pressing motion. Then, I give my bowl a quarter-turn and repeat the motion until I have achieved a smooth dough. This may not work for you, but it saves me on cleanup and is less uncomfortable than other methods.
Notes & Modifications:
This recipe is written so you can make the dough, syrup, pastry cream (if using), and mix-ins in one go. This way, all you have to do pre-bake is shape, proof, and assemble. You can break up the process by marinating the raisins for 24-48 hours instead of cooking them (reserve the juice after draining). The syrup can be made as the buns bake, the pastry cream is ready to use as long as it is at least room temp and pipeable, and the mix-ins don’t need to be frozen before mixing if you’re skipping the marzipan.
Use freshly ground cardamom. Fresh, coarsely ground cardamom is essential to any Scandinavian bake that includes it. This dough has enough cardamom to make a classic cardamom bun. It should be coarse enough that it could tear the dough if incorporated too early, which is why it is a part of the mix-ins and not the dry ingredients.
You can change up the mix-ins, but I urge you to stick to the classic orange/cardamom flavors. I love how almond extract brightens a bake, but you can switch it out for vanilla. The marzipan is optional, and you can substitute it with an equal weight of another mix-in, like more dried and soaked fruits. Dried cherries and cranberries would be well-suited for the buns (I wanted to test a batch of this with dried cherries, but they were impossible to source in time).
Use chocolate chips that will hold their shape in the oven, like these. Most chocolate chips are formulated to withstand heat and not melt all over your baking sheet. My first batches were made with a cheaper alternative: roughly chopped bars of Lindt dark chocolate. You can technically do this, but the sharp edges of chopped chocolate will tear at your dough, making it harder to shape and breaking gluten bonds. It will also likely melt out in the oven and scorch the bottom of your pan.
Christmas bun (juleboller) dough
ingredients
stewed raisins
50g raisins or sultanas
120 g orange juice
tangzhong
30 g bread flour
75 g kefir or buttermilk
75 g water
mix-ins
60 g dark chocolate chips
60 g marzipan, chopped into little cubes and frozen
50 g candied orange peel
stewed and drained raisins, from above
2 1/2 tsp coarsely ground cardamom
the rest of the dough
470 g bread flour + about 40-60 g more if needed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
tangzhong, from above
20 g milk powder optional
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
110 g kefir
100 g orange juice
50 g cane sugar
1 tsp (10 g) fine sea salt
1 tsp almond extract
1 egg
2 tbsp neutral oil (olive oil is fine here)
100 g butter, cubed and softened to room temp
method
Stew the raisins: In a small pan, bring the raisins and orange juice to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer until the raisins are noticeably plump—about 3-5 minutes. Immediately drain the raisins, saving the orange juice for later. Let the raisins cool to at least room temp as you mix the rest of the dough. Chill or freeze if needed.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the 470 g bread flour, milk powder, cinnamon, and salt.
Make the tangzhong: Combine the kefir/buttermilk, water, and 30 g bread flour in a small, high-sided saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until a smooth paste forms and your whisk leaves a trail in the pan.
Add the tangzhong to a medium, heat-safe mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Immediately whisk in the following ingredients, in this order: 110 g kefir/buttermilk, orange juice, dry yeast, cane sugar, almond extract, oil, and 1 egg.
Whisk in 1/3 of the reserved flour/milk powder/cinnamon/salt mixture until fully combined. Continue adding more flour until you have to switch to a strong spatula, bowl scraper, or dough hook.
If using a stand mixer, switch to your dough hook and knead until you can slowly stretch a piece of dough thin enough that light passes through it without tearing. Work extra flour into the dough only as needed to make it come together. If kneading by hand, let the dough rest, covered for about 20-30 minutes to hydrate and strengthen. Then use the convex side of a bench scraper to fold the dough over itself in the bowl, give the bowl a quarter turn, and repeat until you have a smooth and elastic dough. Alternatively, use another kneading method that you are comfortable with. Work extra flour into the dough only as needed to make it come together. See notes on hand-kneading.
If using a stand mixer, start adding 1-2 tablespoons of butter to the dough with the mixer running. Continue until all of the butter is incorporated. If kneading by hand, turn your dough out onto a clean, floured work surface. Flatten it into a rough square and spread half of the butter over its surface. Repeat the folding motions from earlier until the butter is completely incorporated. Flatten the dough and repeat with the remaining butter until you have a cohesive, smooth, and elastic dough. This will get messy but I promise it will come together! Again, see notes on hand-kneading.
If using a stand mixer or kneading by hand, flatten your dough out onto a floured work surface. Evenly spread your drained raisins and other mix-ins over the surface of the dough, pressing lightly to adhere. Fold the dough over itself until the mix-ins are completely incorporated, being careful not to smash the marzipan too much if using. It is important to use completely frozen marzipan here to prevent it from being worked into the dough too much—chill your dough at any point if your marzipan is too soft or your chocolate is melting.
Form the dough into a ball and transfer it to a large, oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel or cling wrap and let rise in a warm environment until almost doubled in size. Transfer to the fridge and let it rest overnight. Meanwhile, make the custard (if using) and syrup.
custard
optional, can be made 3 days in advance
ingredients
210 g whole milk
3 egg yolks
50 g sugar
20 g cornstarch
method
In a small, high-sided saucepan, gently heat the milk until it is steaming.
While heating the milk, vigorously whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch in a heat-safe bowl until fully emulsified.
In 1-2 tablespoon increments, slowly add about half of the hot milk to the yolk/sugar/cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the yolks from cooking and solidifying.
Once you have added half of the milk, pour the mixture into the remaining milk on the stove. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until the custard is thick and bubbling, whisking the entire time.
Once thickened, immediately take the custard off the heat and transfer to a heat-safe bowl. Cover it with cling wrap, ensuring the wrap completely touches the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to room temp before transferring to a piping bag. Refrigerate until assembly.
orange & cardamom syrup
ingredients
all of the reserved orange juice from the stewed raisins + extra orange juice as needed
100 g sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarsely ground cardamom
method
Weigh the reserved orange juice from the stewed raisins. Add more orange juice until you have 140 g of juice in total.
In a small, high-sided saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil. Simmer until the mixture can lightly coat a spoon, about 3 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
assembly & bake
makes 12 buns
ingredients
Christmas bun dough
custard optional
orange & cardamom syrup
egg wash: 1 egg + a splash of cream, milk, or water, whisked
40 g hazelnut flakes or slivered almonds
method
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
On a well-floured work surface, punch down and degas your chilled dough. Divide it equally into 12 pieces, about 100 g each. Form each piece into a taught ball and space 2-3 cm apart from one another on the prepared baking sheet. Place them further away if you don’t want them to grow into one another.
Lightly cover the buns with a damp tea towel or cling wrap. Let rise until the buns are puffy. They should wobble slightly when you give the baking sheet a little jiggle. This time will vary depending on the conditions of your kitchen. In a warm kitchen, this took me 1 hour.
Halfway into your proofing time, preheat your oven to 190 C.
When you are ready to bake, lightly brush the surface of each bun with the egg wash.
If you are using custard, bake the buns for 15 minutes, until they are lightly golden and set. Gently remove the buns from the oven. Pipe a little ring of custard on the top center of each bun, followed by another, larger ring outside of the little ring. Sprinkle the tops with the hazelnuts or almonds and return to the oven until the buns are deeply golden with lightly browned bottoms, about 15-18 minutes. Start checking the bottoms with an offset spatula around the 13-minute mark.
If you are omitting the custard, top the center of each bun with a sprinkle of hazelnuts or almonds. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the buns are deeply golden with lightly browned bottoms. Start checking the bottoms with an offset spatula around the 22-minute mark.
Once your buns are baked, remove them from the oven and immediately brush with the orange & cardamom syrup. If using custard, use a flicking motion with your pastry brush to drizzle the syrup and avoid disrupting the tops of the buns.
Allow to cool completely before serving. These are best eaten warm and fresh or the day after eating. Each bun can be tightly wrapped, frozen, and reheated at 190 C for 8-10 minutes.
Oh my!!! 😍😍🔥