Cinnamon Custard Rolls
I totally forgot about custard cinnamon rolls, until I stumbled upon a picture of them when browsing on Pinterest. Then I decided to try to make my version, with a vanilla custard, using some of my newly purchased plumb vanillas beans. Honestly the custard could be eaten, directly out of the saucepan, maybe with some berries. But it worked perfectly in the cinnamon rolls too. Transporting me back to my childhood. These cinnamon rolls is a great updated version to the traditional cinnamon rolls, making them a bit more fancy.
I would recommend to remove the rolls from the oven a bit earlier than I did, to prevent the custard from getting browned.
Makes 18-20 rolls.
Ingredients:
Dough:
50 g live yeast ( 4 teaspoons dry yeast)
175 g butter, salted
500 ml milk
175 g sugar
2 teaspoons cardamom
1 teaspoon salt
800-850 g all-purpose flour
1 egg, for egg wash
Vanilla Custard:
200 ml milk
1 vanilla bean, the seeds (or caviar) from (or use 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
3 teaspoons cornstarch
Cinnamon Remounce:
150 g butter, salted and room temperature
100 g brown sugar
2 tablespoons cinnamon
Chocolate Icing:
85 g confectionary (powdered) sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
about 2 tablespoons varm water
Directions:
Dough:
Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Warm the milk in a saucepan until finger-warm, remove pan from the heat. Melt the butter in the warm milk. Crumble the yeast into the warm milk and stir to dissolve.
Add the liquid to the dry ingredients, and knead the dough for 3 minutes, to form an elastic dough.
Let the dough rise for about 60 minutes until doubled in size.
Cinnamon Remounce:
Mix all the ingredients with a hand mixer, until smooth and creamy, set aside.
Vanilla Custard:
if using a vanilla bean, split the bean and scrape the seeds (caviar) out. Mix the seeds with some of the sugar, this will help separating the seeds, and spread them throughout the custard. Place the empty bean in the milk in a small saucepan, and heat the milk until it is warm, but not boiling. Remove from heat, and let sit to cool down and the bean to infuse the milk with additional vanilla flavor. When milk is room temperature, remove bean from the milk. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, vanilla seeds, and cornstarch into the paste, and add it to the milk. Heat the milk mixture up over medium heat, while whisking until it thickens and starts boiling. Transfer the custard into a shallow bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap. Place the the wrap directly on top of the custard, so it won’t form a skin. Let the custard cool in the fridge until you need it.
Making the Rolls:
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and roll it to a large rectangle (16x16 inches/40x40 cm).
Spread the filling in a thin layer onto the dough, leaving a thin edge closest to yourself, without filling.
Roll the dough into a large log, pinching edges together to seal. Cut the log into 20-24 slices. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the slices fairly close together. Cover and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 400℉ (200℃) - I used convection when baking these, heat oven to bake 420℉ (215℃) if you don't have a convection oven.
Brush the rolls with egg wash.
With a little spoon make a little dent/well in the middle of the cinnamon roll. Place about a teaspoon of the custard in each well.
Bake the rolls for 10-14 minutes until golden brown.
Leave them to cool in the pan.
Chocolate Icing:
Mix sugar ans cocoa with just enough water for it to form a tragic paste.
Frost the cinnamon rolls before serving.
Enjoy!
