Christmas morning, rain pouring down against the panes, a little hand touches my cheek, “Mama, is it tomorrow?” “Yes, my love, now you can open your gifts under the tree!” We push off the covers and pull on our socks; hurry downstairs and to my surprise, my 3-year-old son opens 1 gift and stops, and plays with it for a while before going to open another. This lasts throughout the day, him savoring each parcel for a long stretch before realizing he has more to open.
I pull the clementine cardamom buns from the fridge and bring them to room temp. When they have swelled I pop them in the preheated oven and we know they are ready when the air is perfumed with their heavenly scent. I fashion a glaze from homemade soy yogurt, maple syrup, clementine juice & zest and vanilla bean. Then proceed to drench the warm buns with the sweet glaze. A warm cuppa in one hand and a warm bun in the other and all is well in the world.
The rain has now ceased and there is a bit of light trying to break through the Grey Lady’s cloudy skies. I dress the table simply with paperwhite bulbs and clementines. Kathy arrives bearing more gifts for her grandson and Iley is all too delighted by this.
In the kitchen Jacob starts dinner, keeping the plant-based menu light and bright and fresh {and perfect}. Homemade tofu and veg stuffed tomatoes roasted in the oven, stewed greens over Indian basmati rice topped with freshly made coconut milk and a simple salad of greens to be dressed with homemade vegan Caesar and pinenut parm. The sun is now shining brightly as we gather at the table to feast. Every bite is savored and delicious.
After that soul-satisfying meal, we head out to see more family and share gifts with Iley’s cousin, aunt, and uncles. In the evening the sun blazes up the sky in hues of fiery pinks and reds. We head home hearts and bellies full. All and all a lovely day with amazing food and good company!
Recipe for buns after a bonkzillion photos..
Vegan Clementine Cardamom Buns Recipe
print recipeIngredients
- Sweet Roll Dough
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- ¼ Cup warm water
- 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons non-dairy milk warmed
- 1/2 Cup rapadura whole cane sugar
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 8 Tablespoons earth balance vegan butter melted can substitute with olive oil or canola oil
- ½ Cup riced potatoes steam or bake 1 medium potato and squeeze through a ricer
- 1 ½ Cups whole-wheat flour
- 3 ½ - 4 ¼ Cups unbleached all purpose flour
- Filling
- 6 Tablespoons earth balance butter softened
- 2 Tablespoons clementine juice
- 2 teaspoons clementine zest
- 3/4 Cup rapadura whole cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Glaze
- 1/2 cup strained similar to Greek style non-dairy yogurt (I make my own from soymilk and culture {tutorial here} then drain excess liquid through a coffee filter, but you can do the same with store-bought, go for plain and unsweetened if you can find it)
- 1/4 Cup maple syrup
- zest and 2 Tablespoons of juice from a clementine
- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla bean seeds
Instructions
- Stir yeast and warm water together in a small cup or bowl and let sit for 10 minutes until bubbles start to form. If you don’t see bubbles then the yeast is not alive so start again with fresh yeast.
- Combine milk, rapadura, earth balance, and riced potato in a large mixing bowl. Stir in yeast mixture. Add whole-wheat flour and mix until well blended. Add 3-½ Cups all-purpose flour and mix until dough holds together in a rough, shaggy mass.
- Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Let rest for 10 minutes. Resume kneading for 8-10 minutes more, sprinkling all-purpose flour as needed if the dough becomes sticky, until dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic film or a tea towel and let rise in a warm draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
- Punch the risen dough down. Turn out dough onto a floured work surface. Use a rolling pin to roll out dough into a large rectangle about 1/2" thick.
- Mix softened earth balance, clementine juice, and zest together and spread evenly over dough (clean fingers work best). Combine rapadura and spices and sprinkle mixture evenly over butter. (Note: you can add any other fillings now, such and dried fruits or nuts if you'd like)
- Roll dough starting from a long side and pinch seam together. Cut dough into 1" slices using unflavored dental floss or a very sharp knife.
- Grease 2 cake pans (cast iron skillets work great too) and arrange buns in pans. Cover pans loosely with plastic film or a tea towel and let rise in a warm draft free place for about 1 hour, until they become quite puffy. At this point you can refrigerate the buns overnight or freeze for future use, but be sure to let them come to room temperature before proceeding. About 1/2 way through the second rise, preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Bake buns on center rack for about 25-30 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove buns from oven and let cool for a bit before frosting. Make glaze while said buns are cooling.
- To make glaze simply whisk together all of the glaze ingredients in a bowl.
- Pour glaze over cooled/slightly warm buns, serve right away and enjoy every messy bite!
Kaity Farrell
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