Swedish Butterkaka

Swedish Butterkaka with Vanilla Pudding filling is the equivalent to the german "Hefeschnecken" which has either Vanilla Pudding or Hazelnut-Marzipan filling!  It is advisable to use fresh yeast instead of instant yeast in order that the dough attains its soft springy texture.  This recipe was kindly given to me by a fellow Facebook friend, Ellen Yee Tham Peng, who is living in Sweden and I have made some adjustments to suit my taste.  I must say that this Butterkaka is awesome and tastes delicious.  It is worth a try and I think that it will be very popular with the kids!

Dough Ingredients:

75 g butter

250 ml fresh milk

30 g fresh yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast (note:  original recipe has 25 g)

50 g sugar

1/4 tsp salt

400 g all purpose flour, to be sifted

Filling Ingredients:

1 packet instant vanilla custard or pudding (I use Dr. Oetker's Vanilla Pudding)

500 ml fresh milk

Glaze Ingredients:

1 egg yolk, to be slightly beaten with a little fresh milk

Pearl Sugar (Swedish product) or Hagelzucker (coarse sugar)

Method:

Melt butter in hot milk and leave to cool to a temperature of 38° C.  Place flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.  Break up yeast into the well.  Then, pour the butter/milk over yeast and mix thoroughly.

Add the rest of the ingredients and knead with a kitchen machine for about 10 minutes or until the dough does not stick to the sides of the bowl.  Cover bowl with a cloth and let dough rise to double its volume.  This will take about 30 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare vanilla custard or pudding according to packet instructions.  Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool off completely.  Butter a 26 cm diameter round springform or cake tin.

Once the dough is ready, knead it on a floured table top for another 5 minutes.  Divide dough into portions and form each portion into a long log of about 32 cm long.  Then, roll out each log to a rectangular shape of 32 x 25 cm.  Spread half of vanilla filling on top and roll dough like rolling a swiss roll.  Then, cut log into 8 portions.  Repeat procedure with the other log.

Arrange portions onto the base of the springform by leaving a slight gap in between.  Leave to rise for a further 10 to 15 minutes.  Preheat oven to 200° C or 180° C (fan oven).  Glaze top of portions with eggyolk/milk mixture and sprinkle with Pearl Sugar or Hagelzucker.  Bake for 35 minutes - after 20 minutes, cover springform with an aluminium foil (to avoid cake getting too browned) and bake for a further 15 minutes.  Once done, remove from oven and leave to cool completely on a wire rack before removing cake from tin.

Bon Appetit!