Cinnamon Twists to Woo a Boy

Dear me,

No one is reading these so now I'm going to write to myself because that's basically what this is anyway. I wanted to learn how to make something that I know my boyfriend likes and going wayyyy back into my memory I remembered me bringing cinnamon rolls to school in ninth grade because Lucie said he liked them. Today I decided to try and make some from scratch with a little help from my friends over at sortedfood. I say that like we've met (we haven't), but I consider them friends nonetheless. It was a most of the day process, with three hours dedicated to proving alone, and an extra one for all the hands on stuff. Folks, cinnamon rolls aren't tricky, they're just a bit different from other baked goods because they're a yeast based dough. I have full confidence in all of you (even if that is just future me I'm talking to) that you can do this and kick ass at it. And it's a fairly large recipe so if you can't them all in one sitting then wrap them up and chuck them in the microwave the next morning for half a minute and they'll be just as delicious.

Hugs and love from six feet away,

TMADJJ

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Cinnamon twists: Yields roughly 12-15 twists

Ingredients for the dough

500 g plain flour

2 tsp dry yeast

75 g soft brown sugar

200 ml milk

2 large eggs

75 g softened butter

For the filling

like two cups of brown sugar

a few tablespoons of cinnamon

half as much nutmeg and cloves

a baby bit of cardamom

60 g melted butter

Recipe:

Heat the milk in a microwave save dish for 30 seconds and add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to that and stir. Set that aside and in a separate bowl mix all the other ingredients. Add in the yeasty milk and stir until it's entirely combined. Next, you're going to knead the dough until there's a smooth finish on the top and it's relatively stretchy. Fold it in on itself to create a ball, set it in a bowl, cover in cling film, and leave to prove in a warm place for two hours.

After it's proved, dust a clean work surface with flour and pour your bread ball on it. Using a rolling pin, shape it into a rectangle, making sure that the dough is pretty thin. In a bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients except the butter and mix completely. Use a pastry brush to cover the dough rectangle in a layer of melted butter and sprinkle the spice mixture over the top of it. You're then going to fold it hotdog style, making sure that all of the ends meet and gently press them together. I went over the whole thing with the rolling pin one more time, but if you do this, be careful not to press hard. If you're looking at it where the long edge is horizontal, you're going to cut 1.5 inch vertical strips all the way down the rectangle. If you have pieces that are kinda small, don't worry, you can make these into little bites at the end. Next, take your strips and cut a slit in the middle of them, but stop 3 cm before you hit either end. Pick a strip up and twist it, holding one end in two fingers on one hand and wrap the other end around the fingers, but not too tightly. When you get to the other end, tuck it in the whole in the middle of your two fingers and place it on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Do this with all of the strips and the baby bits that couldn't be made into strips just kinda twist and tuck. Cover with cling film and leave for another hour.

Alright ladies and gents we're almost there. Preheat your oven to 160° Farenheit and creat an egg wash made of egg and a splash of water. Paint that on all of your knots. Bake the knots for roughly 20 minutes and cover with icing almost immediately out of the oven.

Icing:

Ingredients:

2 cups icing sugar

2 tbs milk

2 tbs melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

Recipe:

Put all of it together in a bowl, stir, and spread in a thin layer over your twists.