Rosinboller- Norwegian Raisin Buns

Post #1 in my "Bun in the Oven" series. Read about the inspiration here. 

The first time I came to Norway, I wasn’t much of a baker.

Which is perhaps why I became so easily enamored with a certain convenience store’s cardamom-enhanced raisin buns. This certain convenience store is found on nearly every corner in Oslo (not to mention most major cities) and has a name that consists of just two numbers, separated by a hyphen. I’ll say no more.....

When you’re on a budget and Norwegian tax laws afford you just one beer a week, it becomes a necessity to scout out the most economical indulgences of a city. For a college student who had very little money to begin with, studying in perhaps the world’s most expensive country didn’t leave much opportunity for indulgence. Raisin buns became my one, sweet, little luxury most mornings. Well, raisin buns, strong Scandinavian coffee, and some yoghurt. Norwegian yoghurt is known to convert former yoghurt-haters. But that’s another story. 

Served warm from the oven, these puffy, browned little birds were comfort in bun-form.

And they still are. Smelling just like a sweet Grandma’s house, they made many cold, rainy Oslo mornings a little more pleasant. Now, six years, permanent Norwegian residency, and a lot more experience with flour and sugar later, I’m making my own raisin buns. Maybe you should too?

There are many rosinboller recipes out there across the country and the web, but I went with perhaps the most respected Norwegian culinary personality, Andreas Viestand's buns (if you anything like me, that last phrase conjured up a scandalous image). Young, charismatic, and talented, Viestad is the Norwegian Jamie Oliver- hold the lisp and overachieving attitude. Viestad is best known for his PBS cooking show, part of The New Scandinavian Cooking series, where he takes a stove and fresh artic ingredients to the tops of mountains and innermost fjord watersides. It’s a dreamy show, to say the least.

Rosinboller. 

Norwegian raisin buns. 

One of my earliest Norwegian comfort foods. 

Not difficult to make, as long as you don’t have yeastphobia. 

And the kind of bun that a pregnant lady can eat all day long.

Two buns for me, one for baby, two buns for me, one for baby, two buns for me....

Start to finish, this recipe takes about two and half hours to make. It’s a great weekend or holiday activity, but keep in mind that the recipe yields a large quantity of buns, so you can eat some right-out-of-the-oven (when they’re best!), a few more the day or two after, and then freeze the rest for another occasion. You can certainly cut the recipe in half and make fewer buns, but if you re-warm frozen buns in the oven,  you’ll save yourself some time and energy- not to mention, you’ll be in heaven with the smell of sweet raisins and cardamom all over again!

P.S. It’s nice to soak the raisins for these buns in something slightly sweet and flavorful, like port, sherry, or apple juice (my beverage of choice for the next few months). The ground cardamom is a very typical ingredient in Norwegian baked goods, but you can substitute it for another spice, like cinnamon, if you so desire. Oh- and one last thing! If you're able to get a hold of some geitost, Norwegian brown cheese, do try a thin slice or two alongside your bun.

Soaking the raisins

Adding the cardamom

Taking in the fall colors while your buns rise

And a little fjord art

Then, admire your handiwork

Norwegian Raisin Buns

Rosinboller

*Makes about 2 dozen buns

(Recipe (in Norwegian) from Andreas Viestad’s, Det Beste Jeg Vet on Dagbladet.no)

Sent in to Yeastspotting.com

 1 1/2 cups (200 g) raisins

1/3 cup (1dl) port, sherry, or apple juice

8 cups (1 kg) flour

3/4 cups (150 g) sugar

3 teaspoons salt

3 teaspoons ground cardamom (2 tsp. if you grind your own from        cardamom pods)

2 1/2 cups (6 dl) milk

1 Tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 50 g fresh cake yeast)

1 egg, lightly whisked

1 1/3 stick (2/3 cup/150 g) butter, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

1 egg, whisked, for brushing

1. Pour the port, sherry, or apple juice over the raisins in a small bowl, and allow to soak for as long as possible. Stir a few times during the soaking process to coat all of the raisins. You can also choose to do this on the stove top, which will speed up the absorption process.

2. Drain the raisins. Mix the flour, sugar, cardamom, raisins, and salt in a large bowl. (you could certainly use a kitchen mixer to do this).

3. On the stovetop, warm the milk to a lukewarm temperature. Mix in the yeast. Add this to the flour mixture with a wooden spoon.

4. Add the whisked egg and room temperature butter. Blend everything together well for a few minutes until a nice, “supple” (Viestad’s choice of word, not mine) dough is formed. The dough will still be slightly sticky, that’s fine, add a small amount of flour to your hands, if you like. Cover the bowl with plastic and allow to rise for about an hour.

5. Turn the dough out onto a clean, slightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into 2 dozen pieces (or more if you want to make smaller buns) and shape these into round, little buns. Place them on a greased or parchment covered baking sheet, cover with a kitchen towel, and allow them to rise for 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 400F/200C.

6. Right before putting them into the oven, brush your buns with the second whisked egg. Bake them for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Allow your buns to cool on a wire rack (if they make it that far). 

Comments

[rachel]

Nice buns, Siri!

[Heather]

I really can't wait to make these, but it will have to be cooler. Or maybe they'll christen the new OVEN!!!!

[twitter.com/laurenpeters]

oh lord these look AMAZING!

[Megan@Feasting on Art]

Oh my goodness Siri! I am really loving your bun series. I hope your little bun is doing well! I am sure he/she has been enjoying all of these early autumn treats.

[Susan]

Love these, and congratulations Siri!

[cinnamonquill]

Just magnificent...nothing better than raisins and cardamom!

[Happy Cook]

Delicious looking buns, i am sure bookmarking these.

[Murasaki Shikibu]

Baking your own sourdough bread and making your own pizza crust in itself can help stretch your food budget by miles. I really like the way you write Siri. There's something comforting about your narrative... :)

[lulu84]

I visited Norway at the beginning of the year, it is really fantastic but extremely expensive. But it would be nice to recreate the flavours and smells in my home. IF I were to cook some now and some maybe a week later, when do I put the bread in the freezer, when it is a dough or after it has been baked? I am really excited to try these and the rest of your recipes out.

Thanks

[natfly]

i made some from your recipe today! i was advised that you perhaps meant 1tb OR 1 1/2tsp of yeast, but apparently not! since mine didn't rise so well ;)

what flour do you use? plain, self raising or strong?

still taste amazing, thanks for bringing my norwegian memories to my english home :) :)

[Siri]

Natlfy- It's VERY difficult to come by flour in Norway that is not all-purpose, rye, whole-wheat, spelt, or barley. Meaning, self-rising or any other type of enriched white flour is not common in the Norwegian kitchen, so i just use the regular old all-purpose for most of my baking needs.

As for the yeast, although I do my best, I still haven't found a good system for converting all of my metric recipes into imperial or imperial recipes into metric. Silly, I know. Some conversions come easy like flour and butter, while other things like converting 200 grams of raisins into cups for my American readers or 50 g of cake yeast into tablespoons worth of active dry is a bit tricky.

Glad they still turned out for you. I adore the way those little guys smell! -SiRi

[sadaf]

my buns came out very hard............. i am disappointed with the recipe :s

[Elaina]

Then there are those rolls that have the custard in the middle. It's the simple joys such as these that make Norway great. Not to mention the worlds best hot dogs!!! I often crave a Troika candy bar!!

[Sharon]

Can I make these using the bread machine (new to me) to knead and raise the dough? I lived it Stavanger for 4 years, now in Arizona. Can't wait to have the smell of Rosin Boller wafting through my desert kitchen!

[annycabanny]

I love these buns, so yummy! I've made them several times. Second time I kneaded them longer and let them rise longer. They were delish both times but I think I like the big soft ones best. If there are any left left, which I had because of all the good food my kids have to choose from, they keep well and are so wonderful cut in half and toasted with my morning coffee. These may just have to be a staple in my house :-)

[Jenny]

I made them today, really nice :)
thankyou

[jacksonjackson18074.webs.com]

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[Jen]

I am not great or confident at baking, but I just made these from your recipe and they are wonderful! I have never had the real thing, but I love them. Great, easy-to-follow instructions.