DAY 1

• First thing in the morning, feed your sourdough starter.

Mixing The Dough

• When your sourdough starter is active and bubbly, start making the dough for the buns. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine strong flour, sugar and salt. Add the sourdough starter, milk and egg. Mix the dough in your stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment for 4-5 minutes until combined (it does not have to be smooth and elastic at this point).
• Bit by bit, add the softened butter. Increase the mixer to medium speed and keep on kneading for about 10 minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test (until you can stretch the dough so thin that you can see through it without tearing it).

Bulk Fermentation

• Tip the dough onto a work surface, shape it into a ball and place it into a large lightly oiled bowl.
• Cover it with plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place to bulk ferment for 4-5 hours, until it almost doubles in volume.
• Transfer the bowl to the fridge and let the dough rest overnight (8-16 hours).

DAY 2

Cardamom Butter Filling

• In a large bowl, mix the softened butter, brown sugar and cardamom until you have a thick, but spreadable butter. You may use a scoop or a handheld mixer.

Shaping And Final Proof

• Lightly grease a 12-hole muffin tin with butter.
• Take the sourdough out of the fridge and scoop it all out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Roll it out into a rectangle, measuring approximately 50x30cm.
• Spread the butter filling across the surface of the rolled out dough.
• Fold ⅓ of the long edge towards the middle, then the other ⅓ over the folded bit (like a pamphlet, or a letter). You should now have a long strip (approx 50x10cm) of three dough layers with cardamom butter in between.
• Trim the uneven sides, then cut the laminated dough into 12 strips (approx 4cm wide, 10cm long).
• Cut each strip into three, keeping one end intact - like cutting three legs (see photos aove for reference). Then create a three-stranded plait, and roll it up, placing it seam down on the kitchen surface.
• Place the shaped buns in a prepared muffin tin.
• Cover the buns loosely with a lightly oiled cling film and leave the buns for their final rise in a warm spot until they double in size. This can take anywhere from 3 to 8 hours.

Bake

• When your sourdough cardamom buns are doubled in size, preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Bake for 16-20 minutes.

Sugar Syrup

• Add the light brown sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and starts bubbling around the edges of the pan. Take the syrup off the heat.
• As soon as the cardamom buns are out of the oven, brush the sugar glaze over the top of the buns, and leave them for 5 minutes to firm up, before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool down.
• Enjoy these sourdough cardamom buns slightly warm or at room temperature.