When it comes to sweet treats, everyone has that one cake or dessert they love the most. Some are so good, they inspire anyone who eats them to create something similar. Spiraled cinnamon buns were the inspiration for the German Cinnamon Swirl – the Hamburg speciality that has now successfully spread across the whole country and soon the whole world thanks to this recipe. The shape makes them look complicated, but you can make your own with this foolproof trick.
You’ll need (for 6 portions):
For the dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
1/3 stick butter
1/5 cup sugar
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cube of fresh yeast
1/4 cup warm milk
For the filling:
1/3 stick soft butter
1/5 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Here’s how:
Put the flour, egg, butter, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Put the yeast in small bowl, add the milk, and stir until the yeast dissolves. Pour the yeast and milk into the large bowl and mix everything together using dough hooks. Cover the dough with a dish towel and leave it for an hour.
Next, roll the dough out into a rectangle on a flour-covered board. Smear the softened butter over the dough. Make sure that the butter is only soft and not runny.
Sprinkle the mixture of sugar and cinnamon all over the dough, then roll it up starting at one of the shorter edges.
To create the shape of the German cinnamon rolls, cut six portions from the roll of dough at alternating 45° angles. A ready-to-bake roll should have a triangular shape.
Place the cut portions of dough on a baking tray, and press down on their middles with the handle of a wooden spoon. This will make the dough bulge out slightly at the cut edges and the rolls will start to look like the finished product.
Finally, bake for 20 minutes at 355°F.
The butter has browned and the sugar has caramelized. Together they give the rolls that caramel aroma that goes perfectly with cinnamon. And if you enjoyed that recipe, why not try a variation with jam or hazelnut chocolate spread as the filling instead?
