Danish Cinnamon Twist

Inspired by Ole and Steen, a bakery in London. This sweet, soft pastry is similar to a cinnamon bun but with an added layer of crème pâtissière. The perfect sharing breakfast, it tastes as good as it looks!

Hands-on time 1hr 30min, plus cooling, rising, chilling and setting. Cooking time about 35min. Makes 1 twist, serves 8

FOR THE DOUGH

7 green cardamom pods

150ml whole milk

40g butter, plus extra to grease

1tsp fast-action dried yeast

1 large egg yolk, plus whole egg, to glaze

275g plain flour, plus extra to dust

40g caster sugar

FOR THE CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE

125ml whole milk

1 large egg yolk

1⁄2tsp vanilla bean paste

1tbsp caster sugar

1⁄2tbsp plain flour

1⁄2tbsp cornflour

FOR THE CINNAMON BUTTER

75g butter, softened

75g light brown soft sugar

1tbsp ground cinnamon

FOR THE ICING

50g icing sugar, sifted

1 For the dough, using a pestle and mortar, bash the cardamom pods to break the husks. Pick out the black seeds and discard husks. Grind seeds until fine. Heat milk in a pan until hot, but not boiling. Take off heat and stir in butter to melt. Set aside to cool for 5min.

2 Stir the yeast into the milk mixture and leave for 5min until bubbly. Whisk
in the egg yolk.

3 Using a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook, briefly mix the flour, cardamom, sugar and 1⁄2tsp fine salt. Add the milk mixture, mix and knead for 5-10min, until the dough is elastic (it will be fairly wet). Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for 2hr, until visibly risen.

4 Meanwhile, make the crème pâtissière. Heat the milk in a small pan until hot but not boiling. In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolk, vanilla and sugar until fully combined, then whisk in the flour and cornflour. Gradually whisk in the hot milk. Pour back into the pan and return to medium heat. Cook for 2-3min, whisking constantly, until thickened and smooth. Scrape into a bowl and lay baking parchment or clingfilm on the surface to stop a skin forming. Cool and then chill.

5 For the cinnamon butter, in a medium bowl, mix the butter, light brown soft sugar and cinnamon until combined.
Set aside at room temperature until needed.

6 Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment. Punch the dough down
in the bowl, then tip on to a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a rough 26 x 33cm rectangle, with a long edge closest to you. Spread over the cinnamon butter, leaving a 1cm border. Then spread the crème pâtissière in a 10cm-wide strip lengthways along the centre.

7 Roll up the dough from the long edge closest to you and lift on to the lined baking sheet. Chill for 10min to firm up.

8 Using a pair of scissors, and starting 2cm in from one of the ends, make a diagonal snip halfway through the roll. Twist open the snipped section and lay to one side. Continue diagonal snipping at 2cm intervals, opening out the sections to alternate sides. Loosely cover with greased clingfilm (butter-side down) and leave to rise in a warm place for 45min, until puffed.

9 Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6. Brush with egg to glaze and bake for 20min, until golden. Leave
to cool completely on the sheet.

10 For the icing, mix the icing sugar with just enough water to make a thick but drizzleable consistency. Drizzle over the cooled twist and leave to set until ready to serve.

PER SERVING 376cals, 7g protein, 16g fat (9g saturates), 52g carbs (24g total sugars), 1g fibre

GET AHEAD The night before you want to bake the cinnamon twist, prepare to just before the end of step 8, but chill the twist instead of leaving it to rise. To serve, allow to come to room temperature for 45min, uncover and complete recipe.