baking

I made these cinnamon rolls yesterday, from an Alisa Burke recipe. I actually made them over two years ago and delved back into the archives to see how that went. I was amused to learn that at that time I was practically kitchen~phobic, whereas these days I pretty much ONLY want to be in the kitchen, baking stuff.

This image, which I posted on Instagram, prompted demands for the recipe over here, and I am nothing if not a force for good in the world, so here you are. I only wish I could share them with all of you.

This recipe is taken from Alisa’s post, with some adjustments by me, so you may just want to go straight there and then you get process photos as well.

I would not recommend attempting something in the kitchen unless I had tried it personally AND liked it AND found it super easy. These rolls tick all those boxes, and seriously, if kitchen~phobic me of two years ago could make them, anyone can. And don’t be fooled by the fact that you have to make dough; it takes about five minutes and is yeast free so doesn’t need to sit around and rise or anything.

Cinnamon Rolls a la Alisa Burke

Ingredients

~ To make the dough ~

2 cups of white flour

3 teaspoons baking power

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup of butter

2/3 cup milk

~ To make the filling ~

3 Tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup of white sugar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

3 teaspoons of cinnamon

~ To make the icing {optional} ~

1/3 cup of powdered sugar {icing sugar}

1-2 Tablespoons of milk

Structions

Add all the dough ingredients to a bowl and mix up. I kneaded it about a bit with my hands as well.

Roll out the dough in a rectangle shape on a floured surface.

Mix up the filling ingredients in a small bowl.

Spread the filling onto the dough.

Add raisins if you like. {I did}

Roll up dough, pressing tightly as you roll.

Cut into sections, about two or three centimetres width is good.

Place the sections onto a well greased pan or cookie sheet. {I used baking paper}

Bake at 400 degrees {180 if you’re in the UK with a fan assisted oven like me} for 20-25 minutes or until browned on top.

Remove from oven and let cool.

Drizzle with icing.

Boom. Done. I recommend them with custard or ice cream, although they are also good on their own. And you can freeze them. If you decide to make some, please let me know in the comments with a link so we can see!

I wish that was a metaphor. It isn’t.

A friend of mine gave me a Herman recently; Herman is a German Friendship Cake, kind of like the culinary equivalent of a chain letter. A chain cake, if you will. Thus:

So, a cake that takes ten days to make, has a personality and comes with a threat. What’s not to like?

You can probably guess I was always one of those people who felt pressured by chain letters. Now I’m all grown up and everything…. no, I still feel pressured. So I made Herman. It took TEN FREAKING DAYS.

The kitchen smelled like a brewery {who knew that milk, sugar and flour left on the side would become beer?} and every morning I was greeted with what looked like frog spawn bubbling up in the bowl. Nice.

Fortunately the aforementioned friend also gave me a piece of a Herman she made earlier, so I knew it would potentially be worth it. Even when I’d added all the bajillion extra ingredients and it looked like someone just threw up in the bowl.

See all that yellow and white? Shitloads of melted butter and brown sugar. Very wrong but totally worth it for crunch later on.

I am happy to report that the ten day torment WAS worth it, even though I cheated and didn’t give away three portions of pre-baked Herman to friends as instructed. Obviously I will go to hell now. I actually forgot that you’re not supposed to put a lid on Herman, and the three tubs exploded in the night. Oops.

And godDAMNit!

But look at this appley, walnutty, raisiny, cinnamony goodness. Obviously as I’m a Nartist and not a food photographer or chef, all you get is photos of hacked-into-cake {above} and broken-when-I-took-it-out-cake {below}. And blurry at that. Don’t say I don’t spoil you.

So yeah. It tastes excellent but in my opinion NO cake is worth ten days of my life. Well not twice anyway.

Should you ever feel the overwhelming urge to make a Herman, RUN AWAY! ARE YOU CRAZY?!! No, what I was actually going to say was, you don’t need cooking apples; I just used a couple of random eating apples and it came out fine.

Oh and I just Googled Herman in case you DO want to be insane, and he not only has his own website, he also has a FORUM. I am running away now. Into my studio to do painting and things that make sense to me.

I’ll just take some cake with me.