cinnamon rolls

Cinnamon rolls presents us with an interesting predicament: baking them in a metal tin gives deeper browning and slightly crisper edges – resulting in drier rolls – whereas a ceramic or glass baking dish provides more gradual baking and gentler browning – resulting in softer, fluffier rolls.

Sour cream

Combine the cream, milk and lemon juice in a large glass and stir. Place a sheet of kitchen paper over the top and secure it to the glass with an elastic band. Leave to stand overnight at room temperature.

Dough

1. Bring 200 g milk to the boil with the vanilla pod split lengthways. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes. Weigh out 120 g milk. Set aside the remaining milk and the seeds from the vanilla pod for the icing.
2. Sift the flour into a deep bowl. Add both sugars, the salt and the freshly grated nutmeg. Add the diced butter and work it into the dry ingredients using a pastry blender or the mixer on low speed. Set aside.
3. Combine 120 g sour cream, the milk and vanilla flavouring in a glass and heat in the microwave until it reaches 40°C (about 35 seconds). Add the crumbled yeast and mix.
4. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and knead with the mixer on low speed. Add the egg. Continue only until the ingredients come together.
5. Turn the dough out onto a smooth, non-stick surface and knead by hand as Joshua does. It is ready when soft and elastic with a glossy appearance.
6. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl large enough to hold at least three times the dough’s current volume. Turn the dough so that it is coated all over. Cover loosely with cling film and leave to proof in the switched-off oven until doubled in volume, approximately 1½–2 hours.

Icing

1. In a bowl, soften the cream cheese with the butter, whisking with the electric whisk on low speed.
2. Add the pinch of salt and gradually add the icing sugar. Increase to medium speed and continue whisking until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is smooth and creamy.
3. Add the vanilla flavouring, lemon juice and infused milk, all at room temperature. Continue whisking. Add the seeds from the vanilla pod. Add more milk if necessary until the desired consistency is reached. Refrigerate.

Second proof and shaping

1. Before shaping, degas the dough by gently pressing the palm of your hand onto the surface. Using as little flour as possible, dust the work surface and roll out the dough into a rectangle about 45 cm long and 4 mm thick.
2. Mix both sugars with the cinnamon.
3. Using a palette knife, spread a thin layer of softened butter over the dough. Leave about 1 cm uncovered along one of the long edges. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the buttered dough. Moisten the uncovered edge with a little water.
4. Roll up the dough, keeping it evenly tight along its length. Seal the moistened edge, which should rest underneath the roll.
5. Cut into 5-cm-thick pieces using dental floss, as John does. Grease the baking dish with butter and arrange the pieces with some space between them. Leave to proof in the switched-off oven until the rolls have almost doubled in volume, approximately 1 hour.

Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C with top and bottom heat, no fan, and bake for about 30 minutes.
2. Leave the rolls to cool until warm, then pour half the icing over the top. Set aside the other half for serving.

Always serve freshly baked or reheated.

If you prefer an icing without cream cheese

1. Soften the butter in a bowl until creamy.
2. Gradually add the remaining ingredients, alternating between them, and mix until smooth.
3. Add the seeds from a vanilla pod.

When pouring this icing over the rolls, it is best to wait for more than 10 minutes to prevent the butter from melting and the icing from losing its consistency.