Cinnamon Rolls

When my husband woke up this morning he asked, "What's for breakfast?"  Without skipping a beat I answered, "Cinnamon rolls".  I'd seen this recipe and knew I wanted to try it out.  Since I rarely have a Saturday morning in, I decided this was the best time to give it a whirl.

They took a lot longer than I expected.  By about an hour.  Mixing the dough was quick and mixing the icing was quick.  Aside from the time spent allowing the dough to rise, the longest part was slicing 12 semi-even rolls and placing them in the pan.  Not an easy task, I can promise you that.  I tried using both a knife and dental floss to make the even cuts.  The dental floss would have worked better if the dough underneath didn't keep sticking to the wax paper.  I used the wax paper to prevent any of it sticking in the first place. So that was frustrating.  And as I mentioned, it took far longer than I thought it would. 

But... they came out wonderful in the end.  Here's what they looked like straight out of the oven:

CINNAMON ROLLS

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 cup water

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

6 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 cups dark brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

ICING:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

6oz mascarpone cheese, softened

1 tablespoon butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 tablespoons milk

DIRECTIONS:

1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in the butter; stir until melted. Add water and let cool until lukewarm.
2. In a large bowl, combine the milk mixture, yeast, white sugar, salt, eggs and 2 cups flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
3. Divide dough into two pieces. Roll each piece into a 12x9 inch rectangle. In a bowl, stir together the cinnamon and brown sugar. Spread each piece with half of the butter, half of the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough, using a little water to seal the seam.
4. Cut each roll into 12 slices using a very sharp knife or dental floss. Place rolls onto two 9x13 inch greased baking pans. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown.
6. To make frosting; combine confectioner's sugar, mascarpone, butter and vanilla. Add milk gradually until frosting reaches a spreading consistency. Spread over warm (but not hot) cinnamon rolls.

Makes 24 rolls.

PERSONAL NOTES:

These are absolutely yummy, but they do take a fair amount of time to make.  The original recipe called for 3oz. cream cheese for the icing, but I used twice that amount plus switched it to mascarpone.  So much better.  I also increased the amount of cinnamon to make it a little spicier.  I like my cinnamon rolls to really taste like cinnamon rolls.

Sweet Potato and Fennel Frittata (with Leeks!)

This is a creative combination right here (and I wish I'd thought of it!): Sweet potato and fennel.  I wouldn't have thought to bring these two together but I'm glad someone else did.  Since I wasn't sure how I'd feel about fennel (beleive it or not I've never actually had fennel before except as tea) so I picked up some leeks to split the frittata into two parts: one half fennel and the other half leeks.  As it turns out, both halves are delicious!  Although I'm still glad I grabbed the leeks.  They offer good flavor combinations as well as textures.  So good.


SWEET POTATO & FENNEL FRITTATA (AND LEEKS)

INGREDIENTS:
4 eggs (or egg subsitute)
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 large sweet potato (peeled and sliced really thin with a mandolin
1 large fennel bulb (cored, and sliced thin)
2 leeks (optional)
1/4 cup fresh grated Pecorino cheese
1 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or oregano)
Salt and pepper as needed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:
Whisk together the eggs, mascarpone and milk together. Season with salt and set aside. Brush the bottom of your tart pan with butter. Arrange one-third of the sweet potato slices in a single layer on the base slightly overlapping the slices. Sprinkle a third of the fennel slices evenly. Season with salt, pepper and a third of the thyme. Pour a third of the egg mixture over the veggies. Sprinkle some of the Pecorino cheese. Repeat with 2 more layers ending by sprinkling all the remaining Pecorino on top.

Bake at 350F for 30 minutes until the center is set. Remove to rack and serve immediately.

PERSONAL NOTES:

As I mentioned above, I split the frittata into two halves.  One side for the fennel, the other for the leeks.  Also - and this is a BIG note - my frittata cooked for 50 minutes NOT 30 minutes.  I kept checking to see if the eggs were cooked in the middle and they weren't.  I have no idea why it took so long, but there you have it.  Check it at 30 minutes and see if you need to keep it cooking or not.  50 minutes is quite a bit of time - and considerably longer than what the recipe originally called for.  But let me tell you, the end result was worth the wait.  SO GOOD.