Cinnamon Rolls

The cinnamon roll is a soft, yeast-dough pastry made irresistible by the cinnamon-and-brown-sugar filling and the sweet icing.

Yeast dough

1. Warm the milk to just lukewarm (it should not be hot, or it kills the yeast), crumble in the yeast, add a pinch of sugar, and put it in a warm place for 10 minutes, until it froths up.

2. To the wheat flour add the egg, the soft butter, the remaining sugar, the salt and the risen yeasty milk.

3. Knead it into a springy, smooth dough – it is right when it comes away from the side of the bowl and from your hands. Covered, in a warm place, prove it to double in about 1 hour.

Filling and icing

4. On a floured surface roll the risen dough out into a rectangle about half a centimetre thick, brush it with the melted butter, then sprinkle it evenly with the brown sugar mixed with the cinnamon.

5. Starting from the longer side, roll it up tightly, cut it into rolls about 3 cm wide (with a sharp knife or with thread), and place the rounds cut-side up, slightly apart, on a baking-paper-lined tray. Covered, prove them a further 20 minutes.

6. Bake at 180 °C for 22-25 minutes until golden. Mix the icing sugar with a few drops of milk into a thick icing, and drizzle it over the still-warm rolls.

Tip: It is best warm – this is when the icing melts a little and soaks in between the rolls.