Blood Orange Cardamom Bun

5 from 3 votes

Think orange sticky bun combined with a Swedish cardamom bun, but make it giant and top it with a blood orange glaze, this Blood Orange Cardamom Bun is the perfect addition to weekend brunch.

Prep Time2

Cook Time45

Total Time2 45

Course: Afternoon Kaffee, Bread, Breakfast

Cuisine: American, German

Keyword: blood orange, cardamom, orange marmalade

Servings:

Calories: 461kcal

Equipment

Stand Mixer
12" Cast Iron Pan or 10" springform pan

Ingredients

Yeasted dough

75 grams granulated sugar
1 blood orange zested
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
500 grams all purpose flour
15 grams instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
250 milliliters whole milk luke warm
2 eggs large, room temperature
60 grams butter soft

Filling

227 grams mascarpone room temperature
100 grams granulated sugar
2 blood oranges zested
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
200 grams orange marmalade

Blood Orange Glaze

2 blood oranges, juiced
20 grams butter
150 grams powdered sugar more as needed

Instructions

Yeasted Dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer add in the sugar, zest of one orange, and cardamom. Rub the zest and cardamom into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar starts to clump from the oils and turns a light orange.
Then whisk in the flour and yeast.
Sprinkle in the salt. Then add in the warm milk, two eggs, and vanilla extract.
Use a dough hook to knead everything together on medium low speed for 15 minutes until the dough has smooth edges and the bowl is clean.
Add half of the butter in and knead again until incorporated (about 5 minutes). Add in the second half of the butter and knead once more until smooth. The dough should pass the window pane test *see notes section for more info.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and place somewhere warm to rise for 1 hour. The dough should double in size.

Mascarpone Filling

In a medium bowl, combine the mascarpone, sugar, orange zest, vanilla extract, salt, and cardamom. Stir together and set aside.

Shape

Preheat the oven to 350 F and place a rack in the center of the oven.
Line a 12” cast iron pan, or a 10" or 12" metal cake pan, with parchment paper.
Once the dough has doubled in size, briefly knead it to knock the air out. Roll it out on a lightly floured surface to 30 cm x 60 cm. Try to keep the dough as rectangular as possible while rolling it out and use flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking.
Spread the mascarpone filling over the surface of the dough leaving a small 1/2" border on all edges except one long side.
Dollop the orange marmalade over the top and use a fork to pull it apart/spread it apart over the filling. It will mix in with the mascarpone, that's ok!
Roll the dough up, starting with the long side where no border was left. Be careful to keep the roll tight but don't squeeze out the filling.
Once fully rolled, place it seam side down, and use a long sharp knife to cut it in half lengthwise.
Twist the two halves together with the filling face up. Start by crossing the two over each other in the middle to make an X shape, then twist together towards both ends. Pinch the ends together so that you have one long twist.
Starting with one end, roll the twist up into a giant cinnamon roll/snail shape. Tuck the starting end and the final end under the roll (at the center and edge respectively).
Carefully lift and place it in the lined cast iron pan.
Set aside for at least 45 minutes to proof while the oven preheats. It should become twice the size and puffy!

Bake

Once the oven is heated up, place the pan onto the center rack in the oven. Set a timer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes have passed, rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake for another 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Once baked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly.
While it cools, make the glaze.

Blood Orange Glaze

Squeeze the juice of two blood oranges into a small pot, bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook down for 5-10 minutes. It should reduce to about 3 tablespoons.
In a medium bowl, add in the block of butter. Pour the hot, reduced juice over the butter and whisk to combine.
Pour in the powdered sugar and whisk to combine.
If it is too thin, add more powdered sugar.
Drizzle/pour the icing over the bun, then use the back of a spoon to spread it out.

Notes

Tips for making an Orange Cardamom Bun

Here is a recipe for homemade orange marmalade!
When making yeasted dough, ensure that you allow your mixer to fully knead the dough, until it forms a smooth ball and the sides of the bowl are cleaned. This will happen twice while kneading the dough, once before the butter is added and once after. This method allows the dough to form enough strength to hold it's shape and retain the filling.
If you don't like orange marmalade (please try it in here because it really makes it so delicious) you can leave it out. I have tested it both ways and both are delicious, I just love the extra flavor and moisture that it adds. I would not recommend swapping it with another jam as they tend to have too much moisture and will cause the twist not to bake fully.
For the filling, mascarpone is easiest to work with if it's at room temperature but if you forget to set it out, simply microwave it in 5-10 second intervals until soft and spreadable.
When rolling out the dough, try to make it as rectangular as possible. This will help when it comes shaping and cutting the twist. I use a bench scraper to keep reshaping into a rectangle as I roll it because it can be tricky to reshape at the end.
It can get a little messy once you start to assemble the roll so I recommend having your pan lined with parchment, ready to go.
Don't underbake this one, it should get nice and golden brown on top.
You can make it all in one day or make it across two. While I do recommend baking it the day you plan to serve it, it can be baked the day before. If you have some foresight but limited time each day, I recommend making the dough the night before and placing it in a greased and covered bowl in the fridge overnight. Or you can assemble the whole thing, place it in the lined cast iron pan, cover it and place that in the fridge overnight. Then the next day, you either assemble or just bake and glaze it!

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