Simply Sweet Cinnamon Scrolls

Oh sweet buns, why do you have to look so delicious in the evenings?

Sugar, my guilty pleasure.

Baking has to pretty close to the top of my favourite-things-to-do list. The whole process is so enjoyable for me. It's all about creating something so sweetly satisfying that makes your house smell like a home. However, as unfortunate as it is, eating the baking is even closer to the top of my favourite-things-to-do list. Yes, I love to eat the final result and this is why I don't do a whole lot of baking. It's far too dangerous for me to have muffins, cookies, or loaves lurking in the pantry at night time. I just know I will give in to temptation. 

And this is why I need a bit of a push, an excuse, any excuse to do some baking. Visitors are coming? Great I will make some slice. Someone's birthday? Cake it is. Chocolate was on special? Cookies, I'll see you soon.

So when it was requested to me this week that I do a blog on cinnamon scrolls, I jumped at the opportunity.  Not only did I have a whole day off from study, but my flat mate's new camera equipment arrived this week. Excuses were flying at me from every angle. Why not spend a day researching cinnamon scrolls (seeing as I had never made them before), making and trialing recipes, and taking photos of the final result. The perfect Friday afternoon!

So here we have it, my final result. Sweet Cinnamon Scrolls glazed with icing. I chose to go with a recipe that is simple because as I have discovered, a lot of recipes for sweet scrolls are quite complicated. And honestly, the simpler the better. Not everyone has time to spend hours baking. Even for me this was an odd occasion. So please do give them a go, don't be scared of making the dough, it's easy I promise!

There is only one problem... these beauties taunt me at night time. They are dangerously awesome so make sure you have guests coming over when you make them - they are best eaten on the day!

Ingredients 
Dough:
2 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp dry activated yeast
1/2 cup water
1/4 milk
50 grams butter
1 egg

Filling
60 grams butter melted
2 Tbsp cinnamon
2 heaped Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp granulated sugar

Basic Icing
50 grams butter
1-2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
boiling water as needed

How to
1. Preheat your oven to 100°C. Grease a pie dish with butter and set aside.

2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast and then set aside.

3. In a sauce pan heat butter, water, and milk over a medium heat until hot (do not boil). Once hot, pour into the flour mixture, add the egg and mix to make a soft dough. The dough should not be sticky but rather soft and elastic. If it is sticky, add a Tbsp of flour at a time till it comes right.
Once you have a soft ball of dough kneed it on a floured surface for 5 minutes and then let it rest for 10 minutes.

4. Roll the dough out to a large rectangle ready to coat with the filling.

5. In a bowl mix the sugars and cinnamon together. Cover the dough in the melted butter and then sprinkle the sugar mixture on the top.

6. Starting from one end, tightly roll the dough into one long scroll. With a serrated knife, cut the dough into about 10 or 11 different pieces.

7. Place the scrolls in your prepared dish and cover with tin foil. Place them in your preheated oven and then turn the oven off! This will help your scrolls rise in the perfect environment. Now leave them there for 1 1/2 hours.

8. Once, risen bake scrolls uncovered for 20-25 minutes until nicely browned.

Icing
For the scrolls I recommend two different types of icing. Just use the basic icing recipe ingredients and then add these yummy extras. You choose! I know this recipe for icing is vague but every time I make icing I do it differently. It really depends how much icing you want and what kind of texture you want.

Brown Sugar Icing
Cream the butter and add 2 Tbsp brown sugar. Whisk until smooth. Add 1-2 cups of icing sugar and vanilla essence then whisk all together. Too thick? Add  tsp of boiling water at a time to thin it out. Too runny? Add 1/2 cup icing sugar at a time to thicken it up.

Coffee Icing
To make this icing instead of adding the brown sugar like above, add a shot of coffee! Dissolve as much coffee as you want (I use 1-2 tsp grounded coffee) in a small (less than 1/4 cup!) amount of boiling water. Coffee icing on cinnamon scrolls is amazing!

Once the icing is made literally drizzle it over the warm sweet buns and you are done. Don't they look beautiful?

I hope you enjoy these as much as my house hold has enjoyed the numerous times I have made them recently. Happy baking everyone, try not to turn into your own personal version of a cinnamon scroll!

-Sophea

Food is Life. Life is Food

Mazagran Dunedin. Photo from neatplaces.co.nz

I haven't blogged in quite a few weeks now. Now don't jump ahead and say my lazy behavior is the culprit because honestly, I am not lazy. I hate sleeping in too much, I could never watch a television series on repeat all day, or drool over cat videos while the dirty dishes pile up. This idea of life doesn't exist in my books. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that. In saying that, I am not one to judge. I do like watching movies in the evenings and having an afternoon nap on a Sunday but I feel like I need to be deserving of these pleasures. A week of productivity and hard work should be rewarded with an insistent 'I do what I want attitude'. 

Productivity and hard work. What does this mean to you and how hard should we really be working? I haven't blogged in a few weeks not because I've been too lazy but for two other simple reasons. Firstly because last time I uploaded my fresh, and quite frankly rather insightful post, it was accidentally deleted (how this happened we shall not speak of). The frustration and devastation of all that hard work and time, although enjoyable, seemed to be wasted. I didn't just give up, that's not something I would endorse, I merely got thinking. That leads me to the second reason I haven't posted in a while, I have been racking my brains over one of life's most 'important' requirements. Work. What does that mean to me? 

I am only 21 and I am months away from completing my degree. I am months away from the real world, from a career that has been flourishing over three years at university. What do I want to do and am I ready for a committed full time career? And after some time, pondering over this quite universal question of a nearly new 21 year old graduate student, I have come back to realise what I love and how wonderful it is. I love writing, it's a chance to have thoughts and record them so that they never evaporate and disappear forever. So that they can develop, be nurtured, so they can grow and be shared. Thoughts are precious, they are one of a kind and I want mine to be happy, inspiring, wonderful. The second thing I love, naturally, is food and coffee. I appreciate that many people can say that they love these things, and I'm sure they do, but when I say I love them I mean it in an entirely different way to the average Joe who approves the flavours of most meals. I mean passion, I mean interest, and I mean extraordinary. I see cuisine as something I can explore and experiment with, something I can continuously share with people. To me food and coffee is about exploring an infinite pathway of knowledge on taste, aesthetic presentation, health and well being, cultures, social experience, and life. Food is something that everyone around the world can understand, it is something different cultures, ethnicity's, and even classes share. I want to explore the variety, the options, the possibilities...

I don't want to live a life where my career owns me. I want to live a life of happiness, doing what I want and what I want to do is travel, write, eat, share, and experience. I want to make the most of everyday whether I am down here in Dunedin studying my nights away or roaming the streets of France admiring the lovers. Life should be about doing what you love and sharing it with others. And for me, one of my passions is food so now, I'll start there. Food is life and life is food. So take a piece, eat it, and enjoy it completely

The question that surely remains for now, what does Dunedin have to offer that is special and unique? This is my final year and I will spend it exploring the nooks and crannies of this beautiful city. I will gain experience before I move onto the next saga of my life. The next step? Out for dinner with my man on Friday... let us see what Dunedin has to offer.

This right here is what I love. I apologise for no real food critiques or recipes this time. 

-Sophea