Daring Bakers 06-14: Cinnamon Rolls

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Cinnamon Rolls

Hello everyone! As you can see, this month I’m super late for my Daring Bakers post. The end of the semester has been keeping me busy, but I couldn’t miss this post because hello, cinnamon rolls! I looove cinnamon rolls but I had only made them twice so far, so I was super excited about this challenge.

The challenge was actually about rolls, not necessarily cinnamon ones. But I really couldn’t pass up on these :)

Cinnamon Rolls

And can you believe that just one week before I made them, we saw cinnamon rolls in class? It was totally unexpected because we had been doing mostly French stuff, lots of mousses, jocondes and the like. And even though the subject is called Advanced Pastry and Bread, we hadn’t seen any bread at all. It was a demo class so I didn’t get to make them, but I learned lots of tips and the rolls were sooo good, so I decided to use that recipe (which is one of those mashed potato recipes!)

Cinnamon Rolls

So, these are some of the tips I learned:

1. Use a silicone mat to reduce the heat at the bottom of the buns and prevent burning (there’s a lot of brown sugar in there, and it can burn easily). If you don’t have a silicone mat, you can stack 2 baking sheets and line them with 2 sheets of foil (I tried both methods, but using just one sheet of foil, cause I’m cheap like that :P). They turned out great, just make sure you wash the silicone mat thoroughly afterwards; otherwise your next batch of macarons will turn out cinnamon-scented.

2. The dough calls for a sponge that needs to rise beforehand. But once the dough is mixed together, let it rest in the fridge. This way it won’t be too soft and you’ll be able to roll it out easily, without adding lots of flour.

3. Leave an inch or two of dough without filling, and sprinkle it with flour (as pictured). When you cut the rolls, that bit will hang loose and you can tuck it beneath the roll to get a neater shape (this didn’t really work for me though; I didn’t add enough flour so the ends stuck).

4. As usual, cut the rolls using a string of plastic thread or flavorless dental floss.

5. This recipe calls for a different type of icing, a sweet paste that is spread on the rolls on the last 5 minutes of baking. It also calls for yummy nuts! It thought this was really good, but make sure you spread it as evenly as you can.

6. Most important tips (this comes from my own experience, as you can see!): It is very important that you bake the rolls in a pan or something with tall sides, and place them rather close together. If you make them in a baking sheets, they will spread to the sides and they’ll turn out rather ugly.

I had to do this because my (brand new) silicone mat was too big, and I didn’t think the sides were that important. Well, they are :P

Cinnamon Rolls

Anyway, these were a little flat and ugly, but still delicious! I made them with sweet potatoes, though you couldn’t really taste them, so feel free to use regular potatoes. But don’t skip on them, cause they make the dough so soft!

Blog-checking lines: This month the Daring Bakers kept our creativity rolling with cinnamon bun inspired treats. Shelley from C Mom Cook dared us to create our own dough and fill it with any filling we wanted to craft tasty rolled treats, cinnamon not required!

Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe by IAG
Yield: 12-16 rolls

For the sponge:

3.5 oz / 100 g flour
1/2 cup milk
1 oz / 30 g fresh yeast

For the dough:

7 oz / 200 g mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes
1/2 cup milk
4 oz / 120 g sugar
1 tsp salt
2.5 oz / 70 g butter, softened
1 egg
14 oz / 400 g flour
zest of one lemon (or vanilla extract; optional)

For the filling:

5.5 oz / 160 g brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
3.5 oz / 100 g butter, softened or melted

For the icing:

2 oz / 60 g butter, softened
7 oz / 200 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 cup cream
2 oz / 50 g pecans, chopped
corn/maple syrup (optional)

1. Make the sponge: combine all ingredients and let rise until doubled in volume.
2. Combine the sponge and all the dough ingredients, and knead until a soft dough is formed. Wrap in film and refrigerate until cold; at least one hour.
3. Roll out the dough in a floured surface, until you get a large rectangle. Brush with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
4. Roll up the dough and cut into buns. Layer the buns on a pan lined with a silicone mat, or a double layer of foil. Cover and let rest until doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
6. Make the icing: combine all the ingredients, adding corn or maple syrup if the paste turns out too thick.
7. Bake the buns for 20-25 minutes, spreading the icing on top 5 minutes before the end of the baking time.


22 thoughts on “Daring Bakers 06-14: Cinnamon Rolls

    • Thank you! You should participate, the challenges are so fun! This month’s challenge, for instance, is very interesting :)

  1. Thanks for sharing your tips on baking cinnamon rolls. I make rolls quite a bit and these tips will come in handy. Hope to see you again tonight on Merry Monday.
    Erlene recently posted…DIY Wooden ArrowMy Profile

  2. holaaa se ve delicioso hace mucho que tengo ganas de hacerlos !! soy fana de la canela!! y q mejor que unos rolls de canela. queria consultarte si se puede usar pure de papa en escamas instantáneo ? en caso que si se pueda son 200 grs tambien? muchas graciasss
    belu

    • Sí, claro! Los 200 g son respecto del puré preparado. Podés prepararlo primero y después agregarlo, o agregar directamente las escamas y el agua. Para un puré espeso creo que serían unos 40 g de escamas y 160 g de agua/leche.
      Espero que te queden muy ricos :)

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