Snegle (Danish Cinnamon Swirl Pastries)

I ate an unhealthy amount of these on a trip to Copenhagen (usually while squealing in delight at spotting a scene from The Killing, I’m sure passersby thought I was mad when I shrieked upon sighting the central police station). They are traditional Scandinavian pastries, and very addictive. They also allowed my boyfriend another chance to mock my woeful Danish pronunciation, though I don’t count it as my fault, as they were phonetically explained as sounding like snajil (this sounds like anatomical slang to me) when in fact they are pronounced more like snile-uh , as in the Nile. Danish style pastry always seemed scary and complicated, but this worked perfectly, even in my rubbish oven. The recipe comes from the Great Scandinavian Bakery Book by Beatrice Okajanga, by way of A Little Zaftig. I used creme fraiche instead of cream but still got a great result (although I accidently misconverted from cups so my first batch had half the required cinnamon and sugar, and so tasted more like brioche). This should make 24 of them, they are great for elevenses. I welted and permanently scarred my wrist making these so thank god they worked out well!

For the Pastry

• 450g plain flour
• 40g caster sugar
• 360g unsalted butter
• 120ml cream
• 120ml warm water
• 2 packs dry active yeast
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed cardamon

For the filling:

• 114g butter
• 200g brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 beaten egg

Method

• First make the pastry; this has to be at least 4 hours before baking, but can be kept in the fridge for a few days if needed.
• Add the flour to a large bowl.
• Chop the butter into small pieces and mix with the flour using a food processor or beater until well combined.
• Meanwhile add the yeast to the warm water and leave for 5 minutes.
• Stir the remaining ingredients into the yeast.
• Add the yeast liquid mix to the flour/butter and mix well until combined to a fairly sticky dough, and refrigerate for 4+ hours ( i did mine overnight).
• Roll out the dough on a floured surface until you create a rectangle with dough about 2cm deep.
• The original recipe said to refrigerate this again, I forgot and it was all fine.
• Spread with the butter, sugar and cinnamon.
• Roll up like a Swiss roll.
• Cut into 24 pieces.

• Put into muffin paper cases and place in a muffin tray.
• Brush with the beaten egg.
• Bake at 190 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until puffy and golden, but not soggy at the bottom of the case (I put my muffin tray on a preheated baking tray to help with this.
• Serve (these don’t keep terribly well, eat within 2 days)