On Friday I was really feeling the autumn vibe. Maybe it was the cold, maybe the mist, maybe the red and golden leaves outside my window. Anyway, it was time to fill my house with the smell of cinnamon.
When few years back I went to Stockholm, I discovered cinnamon buns for the first time. And, oh my, was it love at first taste! Recently I discovered, to my dismay, that there is an awful lot of people who don’t like cinnamon. How could you possibly dislike the flavour of Christmas, its warmth, the slightly peppery sweetness of this spice? Seriously, is beyond me.
These recipe (adapted from here) has a slight twist, I added sultanas and orange peel, but you can easily go without if you so wish.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 500 gr strong white bread flour
- 50 gr soft brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 15 gr fresh yeast
- 75 gr butter
- 200 ml milk
- 1 egg
For the filling
- 100 gr sultanas or raising
- 1 orange, zestl and juice
- 80 gr butter
- 80 gr soft brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
(It’s a good idea to start with softened butter. You don’t have to melt it, just soften it at room temperature or with few seconds in the microwave).
Start mixing in a bowl the flour, sugar and salt. Add the crumbed yeast. Now crumbs in the softened butter with your fingers, mixing it this way with the flour (like you do when making shortcrust pastry. It doesn’t need to get as fine as breadcrumbs, you just don’t want big chunks of butter in there!).
Make a well in the centre of the flour and slowly pour in milk and then the egg. When you’ve created a dough with your hands, put it on a work surface and start to work it energically. You need to work it for at least 10 mins (15 if you are a bit nervous about it). It should be quite soft and wet. if you find is too dry, simply add some more milk, but try not to add anymore flour. Keep working it and it would slowly absorb the liquid. When you think it’s ready, cut a small piece off the dough and stretch it as far as it will go without breaking. If you can see the light shining through the dough or the shadow of your fingers, then it’s ready!
Put the dough in a well oiled bowl (I used bran rice oil, since is flavourless), cover with a damp tea-towel and let it prove at room temperature for 80-90 mins (it should nearly double in size).
In the meanwhile, prep the filling. Remember to always clean sultanas, with water or with a damp paper towel (I just put them in a sieve and wash them under water, since they need to be soaked anyway). Zest the orange, add the sultanas and soak them in the orange juice. Let it soak for at least half an hour, or for the entire time it takes for the dough to rise.
Just before you roll out the dough, make a cream/paste with softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Beat it with a fork until it becomes a smooth paste. Line a rectangular deep roasting tin (measuring roughly 34 x 24 cm) with baking paper.
When the dough has nearly doubled its size, it’s time to roll it out. Use the hands to spread it out and create a rectangle. It could be helpful to make to folds, right and left; then turn the dough at 45° and make other two folds. Press it with a rolling pin until you have a regular-ish rectangle and roll it, the thickness of a pound coin. The long side should measure 30 cm ca.
Spread the butter paste over the base, then sprinkle the drained sultanas evenly. Starting with the long side of the rectangle, roll it up to create a sausage-shape. Put the big roll on a floured chopping board and cut it into equal slices. Put them close to each other into the roasting tin. Cover with a damp tea-towel and leave for 45 mins for a second proving.
Last, cook in a pre-heated oven at 200° for 10 mins and then at 180° for another 20 mins. Voilà!