Cinnamon & peach rolls
September has arrived, and came with a boom and a turn. Here is an excerpt from my journal that sums up this feeling pretty well:
We woke up around five this morning with the first thunderstorm in many, many months. The fleeting sleepy joy of “oh wonderful, is the rain season finally starting?” was quickly replaced by the panic of realizing it was a dry thunderstorm indeed, booming over a dry forested land. After some minutes of turning in bed unsure of what to think or do, our phones started beeping with our neighbor’s fire alert {starting a messaging group among neighbors for fire emergency is one of the best things we’ve done in terms of collective preparedness}.
Sam got up and started packing our shovels into the car, ready to go lend a hand.
“You both better get out of bed, just in case”.
And as I hurried over the kettle for some tea in the dark kitchen, what we were all collectively hoping for finally came. Rain, rain, rain. And help was no longer needed - this time around.
And raining it has been since early morning. And maybe Autumn is finally starting, after all, as the forecast announces more days like these over the next week.
Fear, relief and community support, all wrapped up in the hour before the first dawn of September.
There has been an exciting crisp feeling in the air lately, especially during the evenings. We sleep with the windows closed, now, as the late hours of night are chilly once again. And after this bumpy dawn and the ongoing rain during the day, it does feel like Autumn is here - my favorite season of all seasons, bundling together striking colors and the relief of another Summer gone to past.
For obvious reasons, Autumn and baking come together. Summer is hot and sticky, and lighting the oven is not on top of our minds. But now? I will gladly take it. I found these pictures from a delightful bake of cinnamon rolls from a while ago (I wonder if it had been an unusually cool Summer day…), and I never got around to posting this recipe.
Today feels fitting.
Cinamon & peach rolls
I made these rolls after a rather long session of bottling up peach butter (a recipe I’m thrilled to share will be in may book!). As other home canners know, sometimes jars don’t suck down after a boiling water bath, wether due to a faulty lid or the almighty canning gods’ will, and you end up with a jar that needs to be consumed quickly. I may be a little glutton sometimes, but I just couldn’t gobble down an entire jar of peach butter with no apparent reason - if you’re wondering, a fruit butter is something a little bit like a jam, but with a soft and spreadable texture, made with minimal sugar (and I like making mine with honey!)
Ingredients:
for the dough
160 ml milk
2 tsp active yeast
50 g brown sugar and a sprinkle
60 g butter
2 eggs
400 g flour (I usually mix white and whole grain, do so at your preferred proportion!)
for the filling
20 g butter
25 g brown sugar
a sprinkle of cinnamon
peach butter, literally as much as you want. Alternatively, you can use peach purée
Directions:
Gently warm the milk on the stove, until it feels nice to the touch (a little bit like a warm bath… And way below boiling temperature), and transfer to a bowl.
Sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk , as well as some sugar, give it a stir and then leave aside for about 10 minutes (it will start to froth).
In the meantime, in a large bowl, combine the sugar, butter and eggs, mixing well. Add in the warm milk with yeast. Add in the flour, mixing with your hands until the mixture becomes an homogenous dough. Knead it for some minutes.
Place a warm, wet towel on top of the bowl and let it rise in a warm spot for an hour and a half, or until is has doubled in size.
Once your dough has risen, work it on a floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough in a rectangle of about 1 cm (1.4 in) thick. The size of the rectangle isn’t crucial, but a good reference would be something about 40 x 20 cm (15.7 x 7.9 in).
Spread butter on top of the rectangle, trying to cover everything. Spread the peach butter (or purée) on top, and then sprinkle everything with sugar and cinnamon.
Starting from the longest side, roll up the dough tightly and arrange it in a way that the “seam” side is facing down before you start cutting.
Line a baking sheet, flan pan or cast-iron pan with parchment paper.
Using a sharp knife, start slicing the rolled dough in slices of about 2 cm (0.8 in) thick and arrange them on the parchment paper with the “swirl” facing up. Keep in mind that they will rise in the oven, so don’t overpack them.
Place in the oven at 180ºC (356ºF) for about 20 minutes, or until the edges start getting golden. The trick to have perfectly fluffy rolls is to undercook them slightly, it’s a fact!
Remove form the over, let sit for 10 minutes and enjoy!
If you’re feeling fancy, you could prepare a frosting to spread on top too. Cream cheese and honey make for a wonderful frosting blend! I’ve also made frostings from almond flour, butter and honey that are absolutely dreamy. We rarely have the right ingredients at home to make frosting, so we usually go without it. But if you do, by all means, go all in and splurge - it’s worth it.
And with this, I bit you farewell and until next time. I hope September gifts you with surprises, nurturing weather and opportunities for creativity and magic ✨