thinking inside the box.

Yesterday, the hubby and I went grocery shopping together. To me, that was quite extraordinary considering he hates going to the store. Well, let me amend that statement: He hates grocery shopping with me. Apparently he's an "in-and-out" kind of guy and I'm a "browser and a peruser". In other words, I take a long time shopping for groceries.

Okay, sure. I'll give him that. I'm one of those people who go down every isle, regardless if I need anything from there, just to see if there's anything new or if I happen to remember an item I forgot to jot down on the list. I make a basic list of necessities then make up my weekly menu as I walk along the store. Inefficient? Sure . . . But it's so much more creative and fun this way! That line of reasoning still doesn't negate the fact that he hates going with me.

However, on this occasion, he happened to walk by the seasonal isle and grabbed a box of roll mix and casually suggested, "You should make some caramel rolls." Hummm. Oh-kay. Suuuuure. That shouldn't be so hard . . . I mean, I've already made some cinnamon rolls before, after all.

How hard could it be??

Well I forgot that making those cinnamon rolls were a pain in the ass. AND, not to mention that I still have to tweak that recipe. The filling itself was a mess and ROLLING that thing was even worse. I thought I would do better with the boxed mix.

Turns out, I had about the same difficulty with the boxed mix as I did making it from scratch.. Except that it was reverse . . . The filling was easier to work with and had okay results, but the dough was SOOoooo sticky. I guess I could've added more flour to the dough, but I didn't want to risk it getting tough and chewy. I was aiming for soft cinnamon rolls. So I stretched the super sticky dough until it wasn't as gluey then added just enough flour so I could transfer it to a bowl to rest.

Rolling the thing was also a nightmare. Because the dough was sticky, any flour that I added got sucked right in. My "genius plan" of putting it on wax paper didn't work, so rolling wasn't as tight as I wanted it to be. *sigh* All in all, this wasn't too bad. The final product turned out as soft as I was expecting it to be. I also tried experimenting with putting some caramel on the bottom, but since the buns were loosely rolled, all the filling drained to the bottom. :/

So, my solution was to dribble some dulce de leche on top. On hindsight, I should've bought the squeeze bottle kind instead for easier drizzling. All in all, not too bad. Just some user error that's easily fixed. I may buy another box just to keep handy in case I want to try this out again. Next time, definitely more flour.

---- o o o o ---- 

Dulce de Leche Cinnamon Rolls
(barely adapted from Pillsbury)

For the Dough:
1 pkg Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix
3 tbsp sugar
1 cup hot water (120 to 130F degrees)
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 egg, room temperature

For the Cinnamon Filling:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

For the Caramel Topping:
1/4 cup or more dulce de leche
toasted pecans, optional

 
Make the dough:
Line 13 x 9-inch pan with aluminum foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Combine flour and yeast packets from hot roll mix with sugar in large bowl. Stir in hot water, softened butter and egg until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead dough on lightly floured surface 5 minutes or until smooth, using additional flour as needed. Cover with large bowl; let rest 5 minutes.

Make the cinnamon filling and rolls:
Using a fork combine brown sugar, flour, softened butter and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll dough to 15 x 10-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Crumble cinnamon mixture evenly over dough. Starting with 10-inch side, roll up tightly, pressing edges to seal. Coat foil in pan with no-stick cooking spray. Cut dough into 12 slices. Place cut side down in prepared pan. Cover with plastic wrap and towel. Heat oven to 375°F. Let rise in warm place (80° to 90°F) 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Uncover dough. Brush rolls with 1 tablespoon of half-and-half, if desired. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush rolls again with remaining tablespoon of half-and-half, if desired. Using edges of foil, remove rolls from pan.

Add dulce de leche topping:
Drizzle dulce de leche onto warm buns to desired amount. As an optional garnish, top with toasted pecans before serving.

success, finally.

After yesterday's stupid failure, I decided to try my hand again at making the tangzong cinnamon rolls. This time, I made sure to hover over the oven and watch the rolls bake. Turns out, 30 minutes is waaaaay too long a time to bake these and 355F was also slightly too high a temp. I ended up with a bake time of 25 minutes or so at 350F. So when the magic moment came and I pulled these out of the oven, I gave a HUGE sigh of relief and did an internal happy dance. Not burned! :'D

One good thing about having to do these over again is the fact that I could tweak the recipe a little bit. To help solve my problem of leaky filling, I decided to change some ingredients and added flour *and* egg according to pointers I saw on the internet. Helped a little bit but It still leaked... And the second time I did the icing, I changed it a bit and added the walnuts with the icing instead of putting them on separately on the rolls. They worked so much better that way.

All in all, I was really happy with how these turned out. The bread was nice and soft...exactly like how I wanted it to be. And, really, that's all I was aiming for. Mission accomplished! Now, what to do about that filling....

Cinnamon Rolls with Walnuts and Caramel Cream Cheese Icing
(adapted from Culinary Couture, Food Delicious Heaven, and A Cozy Kitchen)

For the tangzhong (water roux):
1/2 cup water
3 tbsp bread flour

For the dough:
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 1/4 tsp (1 pkt) active dry yeast
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
2 tbsp vegetable oil

For the filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 to 2 tbsp butter, softened
1 small egg, room temperature

For the icing:
2 cups walnut pieces, toasted
1/2 cup light or dark brown sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup half and half
3 oz. light cream cheese

To make tangzhong, heat water in a small sauce pan over low to medium heat. Once the water starts to steam, add flour a tablespoon at a time, stirring continuously until flour is dissolved and no lumps form. Continue stirring until the mixture has thickened to a paste. The roux is done when if you stir, the spoon leaves a visible trail and you can see the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and transfer to a clean bowl. Place a cling film over the paste and cool to room temperature before using.

For the dough, combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, oil and the tangzhong. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir together with a spatula or wooden spoon until a rough dough forms.

On a clean, oiled counter, turn out dough and knead with oiled hands until dough becomes smooth and supple to the touch, about 15 to 20 minutes. To test if the dough is ready, stretch the dough and If it forms a thin “membrane”, it’s done.

Form dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl, covered with cling wrap. Let proof in a warm place until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and cornstarch until combined. Add the egg and stir until a thick paste forms. Set aside. Grease a piece of parchment about two feet long and also set aside.

Once dough has risen, turn out on greased parchment paper and roll the dough into a large rectangle. Spread butter on the dough leaving an edge, about an inch wide, untouched. Add the cinnamon paste, spreading evenly up to the untouched part of the dough. Starting with the edge of the dough closest to you, gently roll up the dough into a tight log, sealing it with the strip of dough you left untouched. Cut off any uneven ends. Score dough every 1 1/2 to 2 inches, then use those marks to evenly slice your dough into rolls.

Arrange rolls on a greased, parchment lined baking dish and cover with cling wrap. Let proof for another 40 minutes until doubled in size. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until tops turn golden.

While rolls are baking, prepare your icing. Combine butter and brown sugar in a small sauce pan and cook until the butter has melted and the brown sugar begins to caramelize, about 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in Vanilla. When the brown sugar begins to bubble, add the cream cheese, stirring constantly to combine. Once incorporated, gradually stir in the half and half. Cook the sauce further until thickened and reduce by a little bit.

Once the mixture is thick enough to coat a back of a spoon, remove from heat. Stir in the walnuts then pour over the rolls. Serve warm or reheat before serving. Makes 10 to 12 rolls.

a frustrating failure.

I hate failing.....I hate failing so, so, SO bad. Especially if it's something so stupid as burning something in the oven. I've been cooking for a long time now and I haven't burned anything since I was eighteen or so. I was kind of devastated.

Everything was going soooo good...especially when this was an experimental recipe. I've never made cinnamon rolls before and I wanted them to be super soft. So I decided to try my hand at tangzhong or water roux method of making bread. And since I wanted a "no fail" recipe, I decided to try and combine it with this recipe.

But then when I burned the rolls, I refused to give up on them. I continued as planned and made the icing for them (a modified version of a toffee sauce I made before), topped them, and then did a taste test. They weren't too badly burned. Super crunchy and opposite of the soft rolls that I was aiming for....except for the middle part where it was still kind of soft. Man....I really hate failing....