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Winter Spice & Apple Cinnamon Rolls

I need to tell you about this awesome film I watched over the weekend. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2. You don’t have to have seen the first one to enjoy it, in fact, there is a brief recap at the beginning of the second one that fills you in on what you have missed. Basically, this film is about “Foodimals”; giant food animals, and puns. So many cheesey puns. I LOVED IT. The hero of the story, Flint Lockwood, is a nerdy inventor who is basically trying to save the world from giant food items, and it’s funny. Really funny. I saw The Lego Movie this weekend as well. Also funny. I recommend it. Just to clarify, I don’t just watch animated children’s films. I like Marvel Comic book films and I love Lord of the Rings. I am really boosting my street cred here aren’t I…

Have you every been to Cinnabon? They do the best cinnamon rolls. Covered in cream cheese frosting. So doughy. So sugary. So gooood. They are obviously an American company, so as you can imagine the portions are huuuuge. There aren’t many Cinnabon’s around, I think they might only be in London (in fact, I paid a trip to my local Cinnabon, at Piccadilly Circus, this weekend) so your only option is to make them yourselves. But I promise you, the hard word is sooo soo worth it!

I wanted to jazz things up a bit by adding apple, orange and some extra spices. And let me tell you, it worked a treat. IT’S NEVER TOO JAZZY.

I made these over Christmas and wanted to take some back to uni with me so I made a bit extra and then froze them. Now I have a recommendation for you. If you do want to freeze some rolls, do it BEFORE baking. So get them to the stage where you are about to put them in the oven, and then put them in a freezer bag and freeze. I tried doing it after I had baked them, but they came out a bit dry after they were defrosted. I will try the pre-bake freeze and let you know how it goes. I am still learning how to make a really good cinnamon roll. I need to make sure I cut them thick enough and that I don’t space them quite so far apart. As if I needed an excuse to make them again…..

Recipe 

As I mentioned before, I threw caution to the wind and made up the recipe for the filling, the dough however, is Joy the Baker’s. This is another one of those recipes that requires some rest. The dough needs rest that is, not you.
Serves: 16 (whoppers, or more little’uns)
Prep Time: 20-30mins
Resting Time: 1 hr + 1hr/ Overnight (optional) + 15mins 
Cooking Time: 20 mins (apple stewing) 
                         20-22mins (baking)
Skill Level: It’s Tricky http://youtu.be/l-O5IHVhWj0?t=1m13s

Equipment
2x saucepans
Vegetable peeler
Zester/grater
2 x knives
2 x mixing bowls
chopping board
Rolling pin
2 x Pie plates/ baking dishes


Ingredients
Dough
480ml milk
120ml vegetable oil 
100g granulated sugar
¼ tsp yeast 
500g + 60g plain flour 
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp salt (scant tsp)

—————————————————————————————————-
Filling 
25g + 55g unsalted butter
3 medium apples
zest 1 orange
½ tsp vanilla essence
150g dark/light brown sugar (whatever you prefer)
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground nutmeg 

Method

Dough
  1. Heat the milk, oil and sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat until it just boils.
  2. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely (if you don’t do this you will kill your yeast) before sprinkling yeast on top
  3. Allow to sit for about 1 min.
  4. Add 500g flour directly into saucepan and stir until just combined. Cover with lid.
  5. Set dough aside in warm place for 1 hour. )After 30mins check to see if yeast is doing its thang. If your dough has not rise at all, you may have to start again 🙁  )
  6. Remove lid and add baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt and 60g flour. Stir until combined.
  7. Next you get to make a choice a) cover dough and leave to rest for 1 hour b) cover and leave dough to rest overnight.
If you are going with A it is time to make the filling. If you are going with option B, see you tomorrow.
Filling
  1. Peel and chop apples. (I chose to chop my apples into small cubes because I like to have little chunks of apples. You can thinly slice them. Either way they are probably gonna get all smushed when you bake the rolls!)
  2. Melt 25g unsalted butter in saucepan over a low heat and then add the apples and cook for 20 mins until very soft.
  3. Mix in orange zest  and vanilla essence.  
  4. Allow apples to cool in the fridge. (Be patient and make sure they are completely cool before using them).
  5. Meanwhile, mix together sugar,  cinnamon, cardamon, ginger and nutmeg. Set aside.
Now it’s time to put it all together.

Rollin’

  1. Preheat oven to 200c/180c fan/Gas 6 and grease dishes. 
  2. Remove dough from fridge and split in two (you are dealing with a lot of dough here so unless you can handle it, do it in two batches). Return one half to the fridge.
  3. On a floured surface, roll out dough into a roughly 12 x 8 inch rectangle. It will be thin.
  4. Melt 55g butter.
  5. Spread half the melted butter over the dough.
  6. Sprinkle over half of the sugar & spice mix, followed by half the (cooled) apple mix. 
  7. Tightly roll the dough finishing seam side down. (You may need to tuck in any loose ends.)
  8. Slice the dough into 8 equal slices (or more if you want smaller* rolls), then place on greased pans. (leave room for growth!)
  9. Repeat the process for the remaining dough and filling mix left.
  10. Allow to rest for 15mins.
  11. Bake in preheated oven for 20-22mins until golden brown.
  12. Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack.
KEEP ROLLIN’ ROLLIN’ ROLLIN’
*small in this case means shorter and flatter.
I am going to start KB’s BOT at the end of this month. I will be on the hunt for the “Best Chocolate Chip Cookie” recipe. Any suggestions? Send them my way! Don’t forget to “like” my Facebook Page or follow me on Twitter for all the latest blog updates (and some really funny jokes).
Before we go, it’s time for a tune. I saw Jersey Boys this weekend, so here is my favourite song from Bombay Bicycle Club’s new album “So Long, See You Tomorrow”. They have embraced the Bombay part of their bicycle club in this song “Feel”.

KBx

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