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Printed from https://writing.com/main/books/action/view/entry_id/1072276
Rated: 13+ · Book · Food/Cooking · #2313608
Old Place, New – carb-loaded! – Soul Food
#1072276 added June 7, 2024 at 2:09pm
Restrictions: None
17. Cinnamon Rolls





Honestly, Dudes: everyone loves these... and me, too. *StarStruck* No further explanation needed, right?

The first time, I really (= out of movies/TV) came into contact with these, was in a café on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Cape Breton National Park near Chéticamp, Nova Scotia. The display was empty except for two reasonably-sized – means a European can eat them without exploding from their sheer size – cinnamon rolls.

Fearing diabetic shock – you North Americans eat everything so effing sweet!*Sick* – but being hungry from a long drive and the sea air, I ordered them and a strong coffee (without sweetener, milk, etc.) as "counterweight".

I was surprised, almost shocked: the cinnamon rolls tasted only a teeny weeny bit sweet.*Shock2* Moreover, I could taste actual cinnamon and even the slight sourness of the yeast in the dough*Shock*... plus they were definitely handmade according to the varying size and shape of the roll.

Anyway, since then I LOVE cinnamon rolls.*Delight*

Weird enough, they weren't offered in Germany.*Shock2* After I returned, whenever I asked for cinnamon rolls at various bakeries, I got blank stares and a perplexed, Huh?

I thought – and said – "Guys, it's not rocket science. Why don't we have them in Germany?"

Alone that I – a German – asked another German that, made me *Thinker*.

Fun-fact my fickle ego likes to claim for itself*Wink*: since I returned from NYC (where I ate quite some yummy, but WAY to sweet specimen*Sick*, too) last fall, suddenly all my usual suspect bakeries (except one) offered them (and that in the "understatement-way" like the Canadians in Nova, see above).

COINCIDENCE?*Smirk2*

Anyway, although the bought ones are really yummy and of good quality (= handmade), I finally wanted to try them myself. The recipe I got out of Elisabeth Grindmayer's Ein Jahr in Schweden. (A year in Sweden, only in German).

She used the typical Swedish recipe – oh, and did you know that the Swedes have a WHOLE day dedicated to the Roll: October 4?

Quite likable, eh?*Wink* It's time I finally pay Sweden a visit!*Idea*

I must say my first try really turned out yummy. *Delight*

Okay, appearance lacks a little*Whistle*: they're too small, and too... "crunchy". *Shock* When they were golden brown (as stated in the recipe), it was too late*FacePalm*... but at least the core is mellow and *StarStruck*.

Oh, and probably Laura makes them for Vince in her big "Appeasement Offensive" in last year's NaNo-Novel, after her colossal blunder that nearly ripped them apart.*HeartBroken* *Shock*

Okay, okay!

I'll stop babbling and go to the kitchen already – greedy poops!*Angry* *Smirk2*


Note: I adjusted the recipe to the amount of yeast I had left. Didn't want to buy / start a new one when the old needed to be used up. It can't be kept in the freezer forever. MY measures are in brackets*ExclaimR*



Serves:
12 (recipe); 18 Me. That should've made me think in the first place since I only got ingredients for 10 See above. *Up**Shock*

Prep Time: 1.5 - 2 hrs including rest & cooling off times

Degree of Difficulty: Easy




WE NEED My measures in brackets



DOUGH



25 (20) gr / 0.9 (0.7) oz.
fresh yeast
250 (200) ml / 8.5 (6.8) US fl.oz. milk full-fat

500 (400) gr / 1.1 (0.9) lb. flour Spelt here. Oh, and use organic, because conventional US flour is so contaminated with pesticides that you could also drink them directly*Shock2**Angry*

50 (40) gr / 1.75 (1.4) oz.
sugar used up muscovado (brown) sugar as I like its aromatic taste*Hungry*
1 pinch salt
75 (60) gr / 2.7 (2.1) oz. butter



FILLING

90 (75) gr / 3.2 (2.7) oz.
softened butter
50 (40) gr / 1.75 (1.4) oz. sugar 50:50 muscovado-white
2 tbp ground cinnamon rather heaped
1 tsp cocoa NOT heaped, and also not sweetened, or otherwise effed up


PLUS

sugar crystals
for sprinkling
milk for brushing the rolls with so the sugar adheres*Idea*, 1-1.5 US fl. oz.




WE DO


1. Heat
the milk on lowest heat until lukewarm, then dissolve the yeast in it. Take care it's really only lukewarm, otherwise you kill the yeast... it's a very delicate "animalcule"*ExclaimR* Set aside.


2. Melt the butter, also on lowest heat; otherwise it burns*Shock* A Sauerei to clean.*Sick*


3. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar + salt. Add melted butter + yeast milk and knead into a smooth dough. Dough should come loose from the bowl's side. I used the dough hooks of my hand blender first, then finished kneading it by hand. Let rest covered for 30-45 minutes.


4. While the dough rests, line (a) baking tray(s) – in my case it 2 – with baking paper, and mix butter, sugar, cinnamon + cocoa into a smooth mass.


5. Flour a worktop and roll out the dough to a 50 x 40 cm / 1.66 x 1.3 ft. – 40 x 32 / 1.3 x 1.1 ft rectangular onto which you evenly spread the filling. I give the adjusted measures but I rolled it out to original size.*FacePalm*




6. Roll up the dough from the longer side so you get a long roll, which you cut into 12 (10) same-sized pieces. Guess here aesthetics short-circuited my brain!*Shock2* That roll was long*Shock*, and I feared I'd get cubes (instead of rolls*RollEyes*) when I do that, not to mention that the dough raises even more in the oven because of the yeast... so I cut 'em smaller. Therefore the large number of rolls. *Idea*


7. Place the cinnamon rolls with cut side up*Up* on the baking tray(s), and let them rest covered for 15-20 more minutes, while you heat the oven to 225°C / 440°F. Note: that's the temperature of the recipe. I only did 210°C / 410°F for safety because baking paper burns at 220°C / 430°F max*ExclaimR*




8.
While the oven heats up, brush the rolls with the milk and sprinkle with sugar crystals.


9. Bake them for 10-12 minutes OR until golden brown. Ye know by now that every oven is an individual and it can take longer/shorter. BUT,Again: if your rolls turn out small like mine as well, when they're golden-brown, it's too late and they're hard. WATCH THEM like little kids.*ExclaimR*


But otherwise...*Angelic*


Guten Hunger! *Rolling* *StarStruck* *Hungry*
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