Having the family visit for two weeks reminded me how much I am my mother’s daughter.
We have similar personalities, similar speech mannerisms, a shared talent for the crafty and the creative. Oh, and a shared penchant for foods of the sweet, baked variety.
While thumbing her way through my massive magazine pile, Mum spotted a recipe for Cranberry and Cinnamon Snail Buns in one of my Real Living magazines.
“Ooh, these look nice,” she said, pointing out the recipe to me. I don’t know whether it was meant to be a subtle hint on my Mum’s behalf for me to make them, but it worked. I made them for “breakfast” one weekend morning, which ended up being more like brunch due to the rising time for the dough. It was worth the wait though - after all, is there anything better than the heady scent of yeast and cinnamon wafting through a kitchen? Well, there is the eating of the scrolls, warm from the oven and drizzled with glaze…
I loved the idea of having cranberries in place of sultanas in the yeasty dough, but I couldn’t resist making a few changes to the recipe. Firstly, I didn’t roll the dough into snails per se - I took the lazy route and smeared the rolled out dough with sugar and cinnamon, then rolled up the dough into a log and cut “scrolls”. This allowed me to stuff a lot more cinnamon brown sugar into the filling of these rolls.
Secondly, I decided to top the buns with a cream cheese glaze, rather than the more sedate looking icing topping in the original recipe. After all, if you’re going to indulge, you may as well do so indulgently.
My parents and Mr B hovered around me like flies as I drizzled the glaze over the warm scrolls, anxious to accquaint the scrolls with their tastebuds. Empty plates indicated success.
You can also imagine the icing left over on the baking paper didn’t last long either…
Thanks again for picking out a good recipe Mum. Like mother, this daughter reckons it’s a keeper.
CRANBERRY CINNAMON SCROLLS
Adapted from a recipe in Real Living magazine
Note: if you want to make these for a breakfast, make up the dough the night before and allow it to rise in the fridge overnight. That way, all you have to do in the morning is get up, roll the dough flat, smear with sugar, roll, cut, rise and bake. No waiting time for the initial rising – too easy!
For the scrolls:
- 7g sachet dried yeast
- 3 cups plain flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 2/3 cup warm milk
- 80g melted butter
For the cinnamon filling:
- About 20g melted butter
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
For the cream cheese glaze ( from Andrea’s Recipes)
- 85g cream cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon soft butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
Sift the yeast, flour and spices into a large bowl, then stir in the sugar and cranberries. Whisk the egg and extra yolk together in another bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the egg mixture, milk and butter. Stir to combine and then knead for 5 to 8 minutes, either in a mixer or by hand, until the dough is smooth and elastic (to test, press your thumb into the dough – it should puff out again to fill the thumbprint space). Put it in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a tea towel and set aside for 1 hour to rise (or overnight in the fridge)
Preheat the oven to 190C. Sprinkle your bench with flour and roll the dough out flat into a rectangular shape. Brush melted butter over the dough, then smear on the brown sugar and the spices, until the centre is well covered. Roll the dough into a log shape, starting from the longer side of the triangle. Cut the dough log into eight pieces and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and allow the scrolls to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until golden.
For the cream cheese glaze, mix the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together in a medium sized bowl until smooth and creamy. Mix in the icing sugar until smooth, then add the milk until you achieve a runny consistency. Drizzle glaze over the warm scrolls. Best eaten warm on the day they are made, but can be heated in the microwave a day or two later as well.
Note: You are likely to end up with some leftover cream cheese glaze, this could be drizzled over muffins or served with fruit on pancakes.
