at Sat, 17 Sep 2005 00:47:57 GMT in
>, (Vox
Humana) wrote :

>
>"Alex Rast" > wrote in message
.. .
>> at Wed, 14 Sep 2005 01:28:45 GMT in
>> >, (Dee
>> Randall) wrote :
>>
>> >
>> >Here are a few pictures of cinnamon rolls
>> >http://images.google.com/images?q=cinnamon+roll&hl=en
>>
>> Speaking of recipes - does anyone have a recipe for cinnamon rolls
>> that turn out rather like PD_Cinnamon_roll_95_g_lyrical_2? ...
>> I'm looking for - a rather bready, moist roll with a slightly crisp
>> crust, pronounced but not aggressive cinnamon flavour, and most
>> importantly, not tooth-aching sweetness.
>
>The sweetness and the intensity of the cinnamon are nearly entirely
>attributable to the filling and topping. There is a limit to the amount
>of sugar you can add to yeast dough before it fails to perform, so it is
>unlikely that the dough is the sauce of too much sweetness unless your
>threshold for sweetness is very low.
>
>I use the recipe for sweet dough that is in the Kitchen Aid stand mixer
>cookbook. I roll that out, slather it with butter, sprinkle with brown
>sugar and then with cinnamon. I don't measure the ingredients for the
>filling. You can control the texture of the crust by the length of
>baking, the sweetness by moderating the sugar in the filling, the
>intensity of the cinnamon by using it sparingly. I think much of the
>cloying sweetness of the Cinnamon product is from the mountain of
>frosting they slather on it.
>3/4 cup milk
>1/2 cup sugar
>1 1/4 tsp salt
>1/2 cup butter
>2 pkgs. yeast
>1/3 cup of warm water ( 105-115F)
>3 eggs
>5/12 to 6 1/2 cups AP flour

Thanks for the recipe! Boy, does that look like a lot of butter, at least
relative to the amounts of fat I'm used to putting into most breads with
any fat at all. I can see the idea, though - you'd want a reasonable amount
to crisp the outside well. I suspect part of the key to the kind of texture
and taste is the ratio of milk - specifically, I'm suspicious I'm looking
for a recipe with a hefty dose. 1/2 cup sugar doesn't sound wildly
excessive, although I'm tempted to reduce it to 1/3 cup. But I will try
first of all exactly as specified, because guessing before testing gives me
no reference to compare against.

I might also want to experiment with a longer rise, much like ordinary
breads, for a yeastier flavour. However, I'm wary of doing this to extremes
with sweet breads. I can see possibilities for various undesirable runaway
effects.

Cinnabons are sweet in every component. The roll dough is sweet, the
filling is insanely sweet, and so is the frosting. Mountain of frosting is
about right. Check out the proportions on the roll I called out. That's
more realistic (as well as more practical to eat).

On cinnamon intensity vs. harshness, I've found that the key point is to
use Ceylon cinnamon. Much better, warmer, less sharp flavour. However,
cinnamon is perhaps the most potent spice of all, and I find too often
people (like Cinnabon), use it very heavy-handedly. What do you think about
mixing butter, sugar, and cinnamon first, then spreading it out on the
dough? The build-up you suggest sounds to me like it might lead to another
effect that I'm not really fond of - cinnamon rolls that "unroll" when you
pull on them. What I've seen is that often in these rolls, the cinnamon and
butter, done in layered fashion as you describe, act a bit like greasing a
pan, preventing the rolls from staying whole. My idea is to have a filling
that actually bonds the spiral together.



--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)