Giant Cinnamon Scroll Cake

Covid-19 brought a lot of staying at home, which brought a lot of idleness and mental space like I had not experienced for years. With all this idleness, I offered to make the cellist in my string quartet any cake she wanted for her birthday. How bad could it be? I was up for a challenge! Anyway, she knows that I'm not really a cake baker, definitely more of a bread baker. So she asked for cinnamon scrolls, not too sweet because the other violinist does not like sweets.

So I thought, why not make the cinnamon scrolls into a giant one? A few days later I was at a post-Covid party with a friend I had not seen for years and he suggested making it into a rose....

1. Make the cinnamon scroll dough
I based this on the recipe from The Clever Carrot - an excellent sourdough resource

100g Sourdough starter, ripe and recently fed
160g Milk
50g Butter
1 Egg
20g Sugar
300g Flour

Add the butter to the milk and heat in microwave for 1 minute, cool slightly
Combine all the ingredients except for flour and whisk till it is a smooth slurry
Add the flour and bring together to make a rough dough
Rest for 30 minutes, then knead the dough to bring into a ball 
Rest for 30 minutes, then knead the dough on a floured surface till it is soft and smooth (approx 5 minutes) 
(the waiting time allows the gluten to relax, which makes it easier to knead)
Proof until it is double in volume - I did mine for 4 hours at room temp then stored in fridge until I was ready to use


2. Prepare the dough for layering the cake
Flour the work surface generously and coat the rolling pin
Scoop the dough out of the bowl and make it a round shape
Roll the dough into a rectangle shape
Melt 50g butter in the microwave and brush over the dough
Scatter with a combination of brown sugar and cinnamon - adjust ratios according to taste - I used 1/2 c of sugar with a generous sprinkle of cinnamon
Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into roughly even 3cm wide strips


3. The apples!
I used 3 red apples, cored then mandolined on the thinnest setting
Cut any full circles of apple into moon shapes 
Mix with 1 tbsp each of melted butter and brown sugar, a generous squeeze of lemon juice
Microwaved on high for 2 minutes and check (I needed an extra minute) - the apples should be translucent and pliable


4. Final construction 
Construct an apple rose by rolling up 6 overlapped apple slices up tightly (Watch Youtube video for visuals)
Take half of a dough strip and surround the apple rose snugly, with the cinnamon side facing out
Add apple slices to the outside of the dough roll, it should stick easily to the cinnamon surface
Add another layer of dough and add apple to the outside of the dough
Repeat until the whole pan is filled, ending with dough

 

(Cheese crackers and stuffed peppers not part of the prep!)

5. Baking
I rested the final cake for 1hr (because this is all the time we had!) - the dough was slightly puffed by the end of this, could have gone a bit longer

Into preheated oven at 200deg fan forced for 30min
Dust with icing sugar and serve - soft and scrumptious 

Family recipes: red braised pork

When I was a child, my favourite dish was this red braised pork 红烧肉. I loved it so much my nickname was "Carnivore" 食肉动物. I can understand my dad's confusion many years later when I spent years being vegetarian - how could I deviate so far from my favourite food?

Though I've lived on my own now for almost 20 years and cook most of my meals, I've never triedaking this dish - maybe secretly I only ever want my dad to make it for me.

But how do we capture this dish, a little token of love? here it is, a little oral history and family history, my dad's own way of cooking this dish.

Brown an onion and 1-2 chillies depending on preferred spiciness
Add cubes of pork leg roast to pan and toss to brown
Add ~3tbsp each of dark soy sauce and shaoxing rice wine, along with some sugar. Star anise or Sichuan peppercorns can also be added.
Wait till the pork is nicely coloured, then top up with water till the pork is coloured.
Bring to boil then simmer on lowest heat for 1hr
Add vegetables (potato, radish, lotus root), hard tofu or soft boiled eggs towards end of cooking
Once done open the lid and reduce sauce on high heat till it sticks to the dish

In my kitchen: June 2020

How quickly May went past! I was supposed to be in Italy in May for a music catch-up with two of my dearest friends, but instead I had two weeks of lovely staycation at home. 

Words cannot describe the languor and deep content that comes from prolonged rest, a vague sense of idleness interspersed with dancing around the living room to upbeat music (not the doof doof kind.. like the Scherzo from Faure’s piano quartet). 

I also fell in love with repetitive salad lunches, here with roasted broccoli, artichokes and a Greek-ish base. Lots of people say having the same lunch over and over helps to reduce decision, fatigue, now I believe them!

On the garden front….

My bok choy is growing really well. I sowed these seeds in February when I moved into my new place, and now they are giving me a healthy handful of bok choy everyday.

I’ve been eating them raw, stir fried or in noodle soups (here in a wonton noodle soup)

The peas I sowed during Covid are growing pleasingly well, and I am so encouraged by their tendrils reaching up to the sky, a little bit further each day.

And the Covid radishes are just starting to poke out of the ground now

On the sourdough front….

I had plenty of time to dream about baking projects, so I made this giant cinnamon scroll cake for the cellist’s birthday, layering it with apples for a gorgeous rose effect. 

These were perhaps the best ever thing I have ever baked – each layer soft and scrumptious, with a tangy slice of delicate apple to spice up each ringlet. 

I had a sourdough pizza party one night and these potato and rosemary pizzas had incredible flavour, drizzled with garlic oil. 

The tomato base was made from pureed tomato and fresh oregano, topped with slices of roast eggplant. 

Onto the Food and Music series… 

Our string quartet has resumed our regular meetings with a blast from the past of all our culinary and musical favourites.. 

Veg korma, beef massamun and sourdough naans... 

Served with Beethoven's 18/4 and Death and the Maiden

Roast lamb shoulder, roast cauliflower and greens, flatbread...

Served with Beethoven's 18/4 (yes really our favourite), Happy Birthday variations and the second Borodin string quartet. 

My Newcastle ensemble has resumed too, though various members are still missing. We tackled the Mozart wind quintet then devoured this sourdough babka stuffed with blueberry and almonds.

I'm sending this to Sherry of Sherry's pickings, thanks for hosting the monthly IMK event!