Name: KANELSNEGL [CINNAMON BUNS]
Prep time: 120 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 145 min
Ingredients: 500 g flour; 250 ml milk; 42 g fresh yeast; pinch of salt; 80 g sugar; 80 g butter; 100 g butter; 80 g brown sugar; 40 g white sugar; 2 tbsp. cinnamon; 100 g confectioner's sugar; 2 tbsp. water

After I spent the last couple of months with working, studying and traveling, now it’s finally time for the next recipe + travel review! Maybe you already saw some pictures on my Instagram account about my travels to Argentina, Brasil, Dubai and Copenhagen. Today I am starting with my travel review about my short but first trip to Denmark! Of course I brought you a recipe form Copenhagen for the most delicious Danish cinnamon buns ever! But before I present you the recipe, I will share with you my favourite spots in Copenhagen!

Nyhavn

You can pretty much get me with every city which is located at the waterfront! Not surprisingly, this was my favourite spot in Copenhagen. Actually the city offers some great waterfront spots, but this is one of the best ones. To give you a short historical insight: In 1671 King Frederik the Third connected the Kongens Nytorv and the harbor through a canal, to facilitate the transport of goods. The houses besides the canal were inhabited by the merchants, who then had their ships right on the doorstep. The word Nyhavn means “new harbour”.

Nowadays you can find restaurants, cafes and pubs here all lined up. This was the place were we couldn’t miss out the insanely good waffles (with soft ice and sprinkles on top!). I could have spent hours here looking at the colorful houses, the blue sky and pretty ships, with a waffle in the hand – Loved it!

Tivoli

Tivoli is one of the happiest places in Denmark or rather the largest amusement park in the country! Since 1843 Tivoli offers a wide range of attractions for all ages. There are the traditional rides like carousels and bumper cars, but as well rollercoasters. There are live events such as concerts. We were lucky, because every saturday there is a live band playing blues and jazz music. In addition, there are of course hundreds of options to eat and drink. Such as a little China Town, a french place or cute little cafés. All in all, the hours we spend there, felt like being in a dreamland, comparable to Disneyland, but pretty much smaller!

Little Mermaid

When I came back from my trip the first question of my friends was “Did you see the Little Mermaid? Isn’t she small?”. Yes, I saw her and yes she is much smaller than I thought. I had the same situation when I saw the “Mona Lisa” in Louvre for the first time: Such a small masterpiece and lots of people around it! Déjá-vue! First we couldn’t really see her, because it was so crowded! The Little Mermaid is based on the fairy tale of Hans Christian Anderson.

After my trip I had to read the fairy tale, becauseHans Christian Anderson is such a famous writer and it is an important part of the Danish culture. Basically the fairy tale is about a young mermaid, who is willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul. I won’t reveal the end of the story, but it of course contains romance.

More places to go…

Visit Sostrene Grene: Here, you can get everyting like wine, marmelade, kitchen stuff, soaps, stationary, candy, decoration… – Perfect place to buy some great gifts and souvenirs!
Magasin du Nord: This is the oldest department store in Scandinavia and offers eyerything in a ympathic ambiente
Illums Bolighus: Huge department store which offers exquisite nordic design (just window shopping for us)
Danish Design Museum: about architecure and the special danish design aspects
Torvehallerne: Beautiful street market with delicious food and drinks (and flowers, fruit and so on!) Worth a visit!!

Food

I promise you: You won’t starve in Denmark! I was greatly impressed by the range of food and especially of the fact that Danish people are crazy about healthy food. One night we returned from an Irish Pub and it was about 4 or 5 in the morning and we entered a 7 Eleven to get something to eat. Instead of food like pizza or chocolate, we found a variety of different whole-grained breads, ginger shots, superfood and paleo salats. Hats off, Copenhagen!

Besides the healthy aspects there are typical specialities like Smorrebrod (= open-faced sandwiches with everything you want on it, such as cheese, ham, fish etc.), waffles, soft ice (with a thinn layer of chocolate!), hot dogs and of course cinnamon buns! The cinnamon buns really got me! There are less sweeter than the american ones and more fluffy and have a taste of caramel because of the brown sugar! My person heaven, therefore I will show you my recipe for homemade Kanelsnegl!

KANELSNEGL [CINNAMON BUNS]

Prep Time 2 hours

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes

Servings 8

Ingredients

for the dough:

500 g flour
250 ml milk
42 g fresh yeast
pinch of salt
80 g sugar
80 g butter

for the filling:

100 g butter
80 g brown sugar
40 g white sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon

for the glazing:

100 g confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp. water

Instructions

In a small bowl crumble yeast and mix with 5 tbsp. of the warm milk and one tbsp. of the white sugar. Let the yeast work for 5-10 minutes.
In another bowl whisk together flour and the rest oft the sugar and salt. Then add the yeast mix, the rest of the milk and the melted butter. Knead until a smooth dough comes out. Now cover with a cotton dish towel and put it at a warm place and let the dough work again for 60 minutes.
Roll out on a floured surface into a rectangle.
For the filling: Spread melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough. Beginning at the bottom side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 1 -2 cm slices.
Preheat oven to 175°C and prepare a baking tray by layering with baking paper. Place cinnamon buns onto the prepared baking tray.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
For the glazing: Combine confectioner's sugar and water and sprinkle over the buns. Best served warm!

Enjoy!

xxx

Caprice

1 thought on “[The Danish answer to Cinnamon buns] Kanelsnegl”

Jakob Thusgaard says:

03/02/2023 at 14:33

Looks like you had a good time in Denmark. Nice picture which I remember from my own visits.

As for the title, “Kanelsnegle” isn’t an answer to cinnamon buns.

Rather, cinnamon buns is an evolved version of the Nordic cinnamon roll. It’s likely originally Swedish, yet all Nordic countries would probably throw their hat in the ring to be named inventor of the roll.

They certainly do all have their own very different cinnamon roll versions.

To me the American cinnamon roll mostly reminds of the Danish version, although it’s a little bigger and sweeter.

[The Danish answer to Cinnamon buns] Kanelsnegl