Kevin: Seasonal Breads — Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Coffee and newspaper in hand, I stepped out onto my patio and into that strangely orange-gold light that suffuses a clear fall morning. Each season seems to have it's own special brand of light: the harsh, white clarity of a frozen winter morning; the sweet, yellow dance of spring; the somehow round color of summer; and, so, to the particular hue of fall.

Traffic is light at 8:00 on a Sunday morning and most people sleep late, so the sounds of bird calls and songs are clear and add a pleasant punctuation to the Telemann sonatas playing faintly on the radio inside. The newspaper rustles reassuringly.

The odor of fresh coffee mixes with dusty scents of the season's change and the fainter smell of paper and newsprint. And then I pick up the first hints of yeast and cinnamon. A promise growing more insistent as the minutes tick by until, mouth watering, the timer calls me back into the kitchen.

I return to the patio with fresh coffee and a cinnamon bun.

I'd made the buns the night before, letting the dough rise, then forming the buns and letting them rise partially again, before placing the pan in the refrigerator. When I got up Sunday morning I pulled the pan out of the fridge and let it warm for an hour before baking the rolls.

Just imagine how good fresh cinnamon rolls would be on Christmas morning.

Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 8 rolls.

Ingredient US Volume Metric Volume US Weight Metric Weight
Dough:
all-purpose flour 4 1/2 c 1060 ml 23 oz 630 g
quick yeast 2 1/4 tsp 12 ml 1/4 oz 7 g
milk 1 c 235 ml 8 oz 225 g
unsalted butter 1/3 cup 80 ml 2 3/4 oz 80 g
granulated sugar 1/3 cup 80 ml 2 3/4 oz 80 g
salt 1/2 tsp 2.5 ml -- --
eggs 3 large
Filling:
light brown sugar 3/4 c 175 ml 5 5/8 oz 160 g
all-purpose flour 1/4 c 60 ml 1 1/4 oz 3 g
ground cinnamon 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
unsalted cold butter, cut into pieces 1/2 c 117 ml 4 oz 113 g
half & half 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --
Glaze:
powdered sugar 1/2 cup 117 ml 2 oz 58 g
half & half 1 tbsp 15 ml -- --

Dough:
Heat milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan to about 120F (50C), stirring steadily.

Combine half the flour (2 1/4 cups 530 ml 11.5 oz 315 g) and all of the yeast in a bowl. Gradually stir in the milk mixture then beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Make sure all these ingredients are thoroughly mixed.

Mix and then knead in remaining flour. You’re shooting for a soft, smooth, and elastic dough but it shouldn't be sticky, you may need to add some additional flour.

Shape into a ball and place seam-side down in a greased bowl. Spritz the top of the ball with cooking spray and cover bowl with plastic. Let rise until doubled in bulk — 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Deflate the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface, cover with a clean towel, and let rest for 10 minutes.

Filling:
Mix together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl and cut in the butter with a pastry knife

Roll the dough out into a 12 inch (30 cm) square. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the rolled out dough and roll the dough into a log, pinching the edges to seal. Slice the log into eight equal-sized pieces and arrange in a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch (33 x 23 x 5 cm) baking pan.

Cover dough loosely with clear plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise.

At this point you can refrigerate the dough for anywhere from 2 to 24 hours. If overnight, allow the rolls to sit out for 20 minutes, then refrigerate. The next morning remove the rolls from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.

If you are making the cinnamon rolls immediately, don’t chill dough. Instead, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let dough rise in a warm place till nearly double, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 375F (190C) and brush rolls with half & half. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown.

Glaze:
In a medium-sized bowl stir together the powdered sugar and half & half. The glaze should be thin enough to drizzle over the rolls.

Technorati: Food recipe baking bread artisanal artisan bread baking kevin seasonal bread cinnamon rolls sweet rolls

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Kevin: Hot Cross Buns

This article was originally posted on Seriously Good in April of 2006.

"Results 1 - 10 of about 14,000,000." Google is nothing if not prolific -- one might even say prolix.

It was the week before Easter and I'd entered "easter bread" as the search term. I'd planned on baking some sort of Easter bread last year but something had prevented it, so this year I was determined. Chocolates and rabbits and chocolate rabbits are a recent addition to the feasts of spring -- although some tend to get a bit literal (and even perverse) in their interpretations of such recent addendums. But eggs are a nearly universal symbol of spring and bread is almost as ubiquitous in areas where suitable grains are grown.

I already knew of the Italian Pane di Pasqua, Greek Tsoureki, and Russian Koulich breads. The Polish Babka, Ukrainian Paska, and Dutch Paasbrood weren't much of a surprise. I was surprised though that there were so many Italian Easter breads -- Crescia, Pan di Ramerino, Torta di Pasqua al Formaggio -- and that so many were savory and not sweet. I also turned up a coconut bread with pineapple butter (but no indication of its origins) and the Armenian Choereg.

Then there's matzo, the

Hot cross buns!
Hot cross buns!
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns!
If ye have no daughters,
Give them to your sons.
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot cross buns

traditional Passover bread (same celebration, different religion) and modern pagans celebrate Beltane with oat or barley scones which are reputedly traditional. Many (if not all) of the Easter breads really had nothing to with Easter originally. Instead they, like the scones of Beltane, were made for feasts having nothing to do with Christ but instead, like the eggs, were fertility symbols.

Given so many options to choose from, I fell back on my first impulse, Hot Cross Buns. I've not made them before and I thought they be good with a bit of homemade sausage on Easter morning -- something a bit more substantial than my usual breakfast banana to tide me through to dinner. I eventually pulled several recipes together and came up with the following recipe. The buns are pleasantly sweet but not cloying. The glaze would be cloying, but there's not much of it and it only appears in every two or three bites, which I think is about perfect. The spices offer a nice lilt and the texture is tender and chewey. I think next time I might use a bit of whole wheat flour just to provide a tad more depth to the flavor.

Hot Cross Buns

1/2 c milk
1 tbsp yeast
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp butter -- melted and cooled
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
2 ea eggs
2 1/2 c all-purpose flour (King Arthur recommended)
3/4 c currants or raisins
1 ea egg
Glaze
1/2 c confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 - 2 tbsp milk

Warm milk to room temperature. Fill a mixing bowl with hot water.

Empty mixing bowl and add milk, yeast, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 3 tablespoons of flour. Mix together, cover, and allow to rest 30 - 40 minutes or until sponge doubles in volume.

Mix in remaining sugar, butter spices, and 2 eggs. Gradually add remaining flour and salt, and knead for about 3 minutes. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes. Add currants and continue kneading for another 5 minutes until currants are thoroughly mixed in and dough is smooth and elastic. The dough should be moist but not sticky. Shape dough into a ball and place smooth side down in a buttered bowl, turn smooth side up and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until doubled in size.

Line a 9" x 13" baking dish with parchment paper. Scoop the dough from the bowl and fold it several times to work out the large bubbles, then divide it into 12 equal portions. roll each portion into a ball and arrange balls in baking dish about 1/2" apart. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next morning, remove from refrigerator and allow the buns to warm up and rise for a couple of hours until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 375F.

Using a razor blade, cut a cross in the top of each bun. Whisk together the remaining egg and a tablespoon of water and brush on the buns. Place buns on the center rack in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Once done, cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes then whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over crosses cut into buns. Serve warm. Makes 12 buns.

Technorati: Food | recipe | bread | easter | hot cross buns

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