Cardamom Buns with Lemon and Lime

Here's how:

• 1

  Dissolve the yeast in the water. Place all the dry ingredients in a bread machine along with the room-temperature butter and the dissolved yeast. Knead the dough in the machine on medium speed for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Double the time if you’re kneading the dough by hand. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 30 minutes.

• 2

  In the meantime, make the filling. Mix together room-temperature butter, vanilla sugar, and half of the grated lemon and lime zest. Mix the rest of the zest with the sugar for the glaze and set aside.

• 3

  Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 45×30 cm. Spread the citrus butter over the rectangle, fold it in half, and cut it into 1.5 cm-wide strips. You should end up with about 40 strips.

• 4

  Twist the strips and wrap them twice around your index and middle fingers. Fold and secure the end underneath. Place the knots in muffin cups, which are then placed inside aluminum muffin pans for support so they retain their shape during baking. Of course, it works without them, but the knots won’t be as sturdy or uniform in shape. Cover the knots with plastic wrap and let them rise for about 60–90 minutes, or until they’ve doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 200 °C.

• 5

  Bake the buns for about 8–10 minutes in the middle of the oven, or until they are a nice golden color. Brush the buns with the beaten egg as soon as they come out of the oven, then sprinkle them with the sugar mixture containing the lime and citrus zest.