Shortcut to happiness (or, a cinnamon roll recipe)

Last weekend I made a batch of cinnamon rolls so sinfully delicious it ought to send any Catholic straight to confession. Not being Catholic, I found redemption in sharing it stuffing it down the throats of any and all who came by over the following days and once they got over the shock of me doing that, they all went mmmmmmmmh, yummy.  So I thought I'd share it with you.  Or, at least, point you to the original recipe, which can be found by clicking HERE.  I halved the recipe and there's a brief recap of it further down on this page, but go read the original. It has ramblings aplenty, and that's always worth a detour.

In Denmark, cinnamon rolls are often quite a depressing experience, with far too much dough and nowhere near enough icing. These are quite the opposite and your fingers will get sticky. You have been warned.

What else have I been up to?  ....hmmm. I've been exorcising Moaning Myrtle and am progressing nicely. I've taken up yoga again and thrown in aqua yoga as well, and that is really good. I've started having regular massages and lemme tell ya, it is the most awesome thing to throw money at. I've been to the cinema, visiting friends, and looking at train time tables. Oh yes, and working. My holiday ended 3 weeks ago, and it seems like a small eternity already.

Yesterday was a really nice day.  First I went with a friend to an old state prison which is now open to the public (the prisoners have moved elsewhere, save for this one guy who has been gainfully employed there since his release).  We started out with a sandwich at the café and intended to go all in with cakes etc for dessert when suddenly a herd of children descended upon the place and instantly turned us into grumpy little ladies, so we hastily departed to the ticket office and thus saved ourselves a considerable calorie intake (I'm now baking bread to compensate for that)

After our tour behind bars, which was quite interesting, I drove halfway across the country -which, this being Denmark, only took an hour and a half - and met up with a guy who helped me out with some tricky bookings a while back and was now due for repayment in the form of beer and grub and sparkling conversation. We had a really great time and I have now added one more destination to my list of places-I-want-to-go. Win-win, all round.

Anyways, the cinnamon rolls....

The recipe, as I made it:  You start by heating 

2 cups of milk (for Danish readers: that's about 5 deciliters and please, use whole milk, because that is just soooo much better all round)
½ cup vegetable oil (DK: 1.25 deciliters)
½ cup sugar (DK: 100 gram)

Heat it up, but don't let it boil. And then let it cool to lukewarm.

Sprinkle 2-3 teaspoons dry yeast on top, and let it sit for a minute. 

Add 4 cups flour (DK: 500 gram), stir it all together, and let the dough rise for an hour.

Go and read a book.

After an hour, stir the following into the dough:

1 more cup of flour (DK: 125 gram)
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
...maybe a tiny bit more flour...


And then, on a floured surface which isn't too difficult to clean afterwards, roll the dough into a large rectangle. The book said 30x10 inches, and I have no idea what that is in metrics, or at all really, so I just rolled it out until it was fairly thin and looked like it would roll up nicely without falling apart.

Now we come to a delightful bit: 

Melt 1 cup butter (in Denmark, a standard pack of butter is 250g which is a bit more, but I just melted the whole pack because butter)

And pour most of it over the dough and spread it lovingly with your fingers so everything is covered in butter.  (You'll want to keep aside some of the butter for greasing the pans, and around 3 tablespoons for the icing)

It's a very nice feeling...

Mmmmmmmh, BUTTER

Then you sprinkle the dough with sugar and cinnamon. The recipe (halved) says 1 cup sugar + a couple of teaspoons of cinnamon, but just do what you like here I think.

And then you roll up the dough fairly tightly, cut it into slices, and put the slices in a greased baking tray. Leave them to rise for 20 minutes, and if you forget and they rise for 35 minutes then no harm done.

Fortunately, this seems to be a very forgiving recipe.

And then you bake them at 190 degrees C (which google reliably informs me is the same as 375 degrees F) for 15 minutes, +/-, until they are golden brown and smell delicious.

15 minutes, incidentally, is also enough time to make the icing, which you pour over the rolls while they are still hot.

The recipe (still, halved), calls for 1 pound powdered sugar (which I start by sieving because otherwise I never get rid of the lumps), 2-3 tablespoons milk, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 3 tablespoons coffee, and a tiny bit of salt and a teaspoon of maple flavouring.

I freestyled this a bit, but as long as you have a deliciously thick, pourable icing that tastes good, I think you are good to go.  Maple flavouring isn't something you easily come by in Denmark (I have some that I bought in the US and I make a point of not looking at the sell-by date), but more coffee or perhaps vanilla flavouring works well.

When the cinnamon rolls look like this, they are ready to come out of the oven and be drenched in icing.  Leave them for a couple of hours (hah) and either eat with a spoon or have plenty of tissue on hand for your greasy fingers.

Til nytte

Dagens indlæg henvender sig IKKE til folk på skrump. Er til gengæld velegnet til katolikker, som kan få syndsforladelse ved henvendelse i nærmeste skriftestol. 

Det er en kageopskrift.  Oprindelig hedder kagen "nøttekake med gul krem"; i Kagedåsernes optik/hørelse blev det meget hurtigt til "nyttekage", men som det blev påpeget: er al kage måske ikke nyttekage?  Vist er det så.

Men i virkeligheden hedder kagen "Ingunn's Kake".  Ingunn er min mors barndomsveninde (fra Norges land; HEIA NORGE). Som vi alle ved, er det typisk norsk at være god, og denne kage er ingen undtagelse.

Du kan forstørre billedet nedenfor og få den på ægte, uforfalsket norsk. Eller lade dig nøje med min oversættelse (og tilhørende kommentarer).

150 gram hasselnødder kværnes (rimelig fint, men der må godt være lidt "bid" i dem).

1 tsk hvedemel + ½ tsk bagepulver blandes i. Sæt til side.

4 æggehvider + 150 gram flormelis piskes til det er ret stift

Nøddeblandingen piskes i

Bages i en smurt springform ved 200 grader i ca. 25 minutter.

Mens kagen er i ovnen kan du lave kagecremen. Så afgjort den mest nervepirrende del af projektet, hvis du spørger mig.

4 æggeblommer + 1 dl. fløde + 100 gram flormelis røres sammen i en gryde og koges op under omrøring.

- Det er dét, jeg synes er uhyggeligt. Jeg er så pissebange for at det skal brænde på i bunden og blive til en sært sød omgang røræg. Men fat mod, bliv ved med at røre rundt, og tag den med så meget ro, som du nu kan. Det SKAL lige op og boble, for ellers bliver cremen ikke tyk nok.

Tag gryden af blusset og lad den køle lidt af. Rør vanillesukker i (1 tsk iflg opskriften men jeg bruger 2, fordi det er en af de ting, man ikke rigtig kan få nok af) og rør herefter 100g SMØR i. Jeg plejer at tage det ad ca. 3-4 omgange; så er det lidt nemmere at styre.

Og så skal cremen køle helt af (køleskab), før den smøres på kagen.

(Nogle gange bliver cremen ved med at være sådan noget, der bare flyder ud over det hele. Så kan man godt redde det ved at røre noget husblas i.)

(Og til dem, der tænker: 1 tsk mel? Hvad skal det da gøre godt for? -så ved jeg det ikke, men det står i opskriften, og jeg er autoritetstro nok til at jeg ikke tør udelade den. Men hvis du er gluten-allergiker, så tror jeg godt, du tør)

Nydes iført dine rummeligste bukser, og i godt selskab.

@ N ~ today's blog post is a cake recipe from the magical land of Norway, courtesy of my mother's friend Ingunn. 

Translated and converted for your convenience :-)

1 cup hazelnuts (= around 5oz.) - chopped finely, but with a few bigger pieces in between.

Mix in 1 teaspoon (yes, teaspoon) allpurpose flour + ½ teaspoon baking powder. Set aside.

Whisk together 4 egg whites and 1 1/4 cup powdered sugar (confectioners sugar). Whisk whisk whisk, until you dare hold the bowl upside down over your head it is quite stiff.

Then whisk in nuts.

Bake in a non-stick spring form at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes 

While the cake is baking, you can make the cream.

In a saucepan, stir together 4 egg yolks, ½ cup of heavy cream, and 3/4 cup powdered sugar (around 3.5oz).  Bring slowly to the bowl, stirring constantly.

(I find this part of the process incredibly nervewracking - I constantly fear I'll burn it, or turn it into the world's sweetest omelette)

Once it's boiling (*blop blop*, not a roaring boil), it will start to thicken. Take it off the heat and let it cool a little.

Stir in 1-2 teaspoons vanilla sugar - and stir in 3.5oz butter (a little less than 1 stick). I usually divide the butter into 3-4 pieces and stir them in one at a time - it's easier to make sure they're completely melted that way.

Let the cream cool completely (fridge) before spooning it generously on to the cake.

(if you can see the cream is really runny, you can use a bit of gelantine to "stiffen it up" a bit. google is your friend here)

Do not attempt to make this cake if you're on a diet. Do make it if you're feeling a bit blue (it will help; I promise. If you eat all of it, you won't feel sad. You won't feel anything, really, except possibly nausea & euphoria). Do make it if you're having a good friend over - she deserves it.

Feriekage

Mine damer og herrer, dagen er endelig oprunden hvor jeg går på ferie. Jeg kan næsten ikke vente til klokken bliver 16. Mens jeg venter, æder jeg kage. Det gør mine kolleger også - derfor det lidt ustylede foto. Man skal være vaks med kameraet.

Den blev ret god, og da opskriften er uhyre enkel, får du den lige her:

Køb en pakke Amo Chokoladekageblanding (gerne den med chokoladestykker). Og en (eller gerne 2) pakker kokostoppe.

Lav kagedejen efter anvisningerne på pakken, kom et lag på ca. 1 cm i formen, læg kokostoppene oven på, og smør resten af dejen henover. Mit fad var 25x30cm og større skal det i hvert fald ikke være.

Bag det som der står på pakken, men hiv kagen ud af ovnen 4-5 minutter for tidligt. Lad den køle lidt af, og mens den stadig er lun kommer du den i en plastikpose og sætter den i køleskabet. Så bliver den meget lækker og "svampet".

Hvem der første gang fandt på at lave en kage med kager indeni aner jeg ikke; denne opskrift fik jeg fra Linda.  Næste gang tror jeg dog, jeg selv vil lave chokoladekagedejen. Ikke fordi jeg har noget specielt imod Amo (ud over prisen - 30 kroner ohmygod sagde Skotten), men fordi så kan jeg få en lidt større portion der passer bedre til det fad jeg har ... og så synes jeg i al beskedenhed, hjemmelavet kagedej smager bedre i rå tilstand, end Amo gør. Og som enhver ved, bør min. 10% af kagen indtages før den overhovedet er bagt (ahem...)  Andre kan roligt lave opskriften som den står her, og hvis man undlader at æde dejen rå, får man heller ikke de samme problemer med at få dækket samtlige kokostoppe.