Thursday, August 19, 2010

In our outdoor oven

... we will bake things like this. Not yet, mind you -- it'll take at least a few weeks to finish and cure. But eventually this is the sort of thing we hope to plunge into its fiery cave. Flatbread glazed with olive oil, topped with fresh basil and tomato slices, garlic, avocado and a little mozzarella, drizzled with a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar.

We are on a huge fresh basil kick here. How good is fresh basil in a simple tomato-and-mayo sandwich? Or in a grilled cheese? Especially a grilled cheese made on the herbed French loaves Noah has been baking for us lately. Hopefully he'll keep up his bread-baking once we have the outdoor oven working.

Right after the flatbread/pizzas are baked we will insert Sophie's cinnamon buns. She's really good at these! They're as decadent as anything, especially once the butter-cream-cheese frosting is applied, but they are definitely worth the guilt.

Cinnamon Buns

For the dough:
1 cup warm milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup softened butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. yeast
4 1/2 cups flour

For the filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
A little extra butter

For the frosting:
3 oz. (100 g) softened cream cheese
1/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Mix first five dough ingredients together in a large bowl. Pitch in yeast and stir. Add flour a cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon or eventually kneading with your hands. Knead thoroughly as you get to the last half cup of flour. You may need a little more or less depending on the hardness of your flour; dough should be just barely not sticky, and not stiff.

Leave dough covered in a warm place to rise until doubled. Punch down and allow to rise a second time.

Turn out on a lightly floured surface and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together cinnamon and brown sugar for filling.

Now roll the dough out to make a rectangle approximately 16 by 21 inches. Lightly spread softened butter over the surface. Sprinkle evenly with cinnamon/sugar filling. Roll up dough and pinch seam. Lightly butter the outside of the log. Cut into 12 slices. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9x13 baking pan, cover and let rise until nearly doubled -- about 30 minutes.

Bake at 400ºF for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. While rolls are baking, make the frosting. Beat together butter and cream cheese, add vanilla and salt, then mix in confectioners sugar.

Allow rolls to cool down a bit on a rack, then spread frosting on warm rolls. Serve!

3 comments:

  1. I think I will be making pizza this weekend! I just saw pizza on "Eat Pray Love" and now see pizza ala miranda! Yum!

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  2. My son LOVES cinnamon rolls, so I am going to try this recipe. You are so fortunate to have a daughter who likes to cook (and is good at it). That outdoor oven looks amazing.

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  3. Does Sophie have any recommendation for flavouring that's not cinnamon - choc chips, perhaps? We have a cinnamon-hating person in our family! And you flavour so much with cinnamon in Canada...

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