In a small saucepan, bring the beef stock, rice and a pinch of salt to a boil. Cover and simmer until fully cooked. For arborio rice, which I prefer in this recipe, this takes about 15 minutes. If you're using brown rice, it will take much longer- check the instructions on the bag of rice.

When the rice is cooked, set it aside to cool. Meanwhile, cook the cabbage.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set it to the side.

Remove the outer leaves from your cabbage head. Stab the base of the head, right by the stem, with two large meat forks- or alternatively I often stab a kabob stick all the way through it.

Lower the head of cabbage into the water, holding whatever you've stabbed it with. Let it sit in the boiling water for about 90 seconds, then remove it and use a sharp knife to slice off the outer tender cabbage leaves. Toss these leaves into the ice bath you've set aside.

Repeat with the rest of the head, until you've got 16-20 cabbage leaves sitting in your ice bath. If you've got a lot of leftover cabbage, save it for another recipe. Save two cups of cooking liquid and set them aside.

Heat a small pan over medium heat. Add butter or olive oil and onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly.

To a large mixing bowl, add cooked rice, onions, breadcrumbs, eggs, ground meat, salt, pepper, and marjoram. Mix thoroughly. I usually use a potato masher to do this. 

Grab a baking dish- a 9 x 13 should work well- and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Take one cabbage leaf and open it up. Scoop some meat mixture into the center. Fold in the sides of the leaf, then fold the edges like an envelope. You should be left with a fairly neat little roll.

If the leaf has a really thick vein, you can trim it a bit with a knife to make it easier to fold. Set the roll, seam side down, in your baking dish.

Repeat with the remaining leaves and meat rice mixture. Place cabbage rolls snugly together in the dish in a single layer. 

Drizzle the golden syrup and melted butter over the top of the rolls.

Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the dish from the oven and add the 2 cups of cabbage liquid you set aside. Return to the oven for 20-30 more minutes, until the cabbage rolls are cooked through and well browned on top.

Pour the cooking liquid off and use it to make gravy, if desired. See instructions below. 

Serve with lingonberry jam, mashed or boiled potatoes, and gravy!