Tall Skoleboller

Heat the milk until it's lukewarm. Add the yeast and dissolve.

Add the sugar, cardamom, vanilla, and about 2/3 of the flour.

Mix the dough together either by hand or in a mixer with a dough hook, slowly adding the rest of the flour. You might need a bit more or less flour to form dough that isn't too sticky to knead. When the dough forms a nice ball, add the softened butter and continue to knead the dough for about ten minutes.

Roll the dough into a cylinder and cut into six equal parts. Roll each piece into a round bun and set them in a greased muffin/cake tin. Cover and let rise until doubled in size (about an hour).

For the custard, heat the second milk portion with half of the custard sugar and the scraped vanilla seeds. In a bowl, whisk the remaining custard sugar with cornstarch and egg yolks.

Whisk some hot milk into the yolks, then return everything to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking continuously, for 2 minutes until thick. Transfer to a clean bowl and cover the surface while the buns finish rising.

Gently make a deep hollow in each risen bun and fill generously with the custard. Leave the buns to puff again while preheating the oven.

Bake at 200°C / 390°F with conventional top/bottom heat for about 20 minutes in the lower third of the oven, until both tops and bottoms are golden. Cool before decorating.

Mix powdered sugar with enough of the listed water to make a thick icing. Spread it over the cooled buns around the custard, then press into shredded coconut. Refrigerate leftovers promptly because they contain custard.