NIVEL 2 - CLASE 11: PANADERÍA DULCE

Cinnamon Rolls and Enriched Sweet Dough

Ingredients

The class does not provide a complete, reliable formula. It mentions:

• Dough: Flour, salt, a pinch of sugar, yeast, egg, milk, and butter. The milk and egg provide the dough’s hydration.
• Filling: Butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cinnamon can be omitted for a cinnamon-free version.
• Glaze: Powdered sugar with cream, or a cream-cheese-based topping. The instructor prefers cream cheese with cinnamon.

A quantity of 250 g of flour is mentioned while comparing student batches, but it is not presented as a complete recipe amount.

Equipment and Preparation

• Oven, work surface, scale, scraper or cornet, and preferably a Z-shaped spatula for spreading the filling.
• Baking tray or suitable mold, lined with a silicone mat, foil, or parchment paper.
• Softened butter, brought close to room temperature.
• Oven preheated to 180°C before baking.

Method

1. Make the dough: Combine the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, egg, and milk. Add the liquids gradually so the flour hydrates evenly. Knead until smooth before adding the butter.
2. Work in the butter: Add the butter and knead, tearing and stretching the dough until the butter is incorporated and the dough is smooth, elastic, and no longer sticks to your hands. The instructor looks for bubbles as a sign that the dough is ready.
3. Rest: Let the dough relax so it can be rolled without tearing. This is a resting period, not the final proof.
4. Roll and fill: Lightly oil the work surface. Roll the dough into a rectangle, then spread on the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon, leaving a narrow border at the edges to help keep the filling inside. Roll it up evenly, aiming for as many neat turns as possible.
5. Cut and proof: Cut the roll into about eight pieces, ideally using butcher’s string to avoid flattening them. A serrated knife also works; use a gentle back-and-forth motion rather than pressing down. Place the rolls with space between them and let them rise until doubled in size.
6. Bake: Bake at 180°C for about 20 minutes. Timing depends on the rolls’ size and height. The center rolls may take longer, so check that the middle is baked before removing the tray.
7. Glaze and serve: Apply the topping just after baking, or about 5 minutes before the end so it warms and spreads. For an even finish, the instructor also suggests briefly returning the glazed rolls to the warm oven after baking, with the oven off. Serve warm or lukewarm.

Tips and Variations

• If the dough is sticky, pause kneading and let it rest rather than continuing to work it. Working sticky dough too slowly can make it more gummy. Avoid adding extra flour prematurely—the dough may simply need more kneading.
• Roll carefully so the dough does not tear, and keep the cut pieces consistent in size. If the rolls have too few turns, the spiral will be less distinct.
• In warm weather, keep the butter-and-sugar filling from getting too warm; melted butter can leak out during proofing. In cold weather, spread the butter separately before adding sugar, since cold butter mixed with sugar may break or be difficult to spread.
• Keep cinnamon in the filling, not the dough, because the instructor says it can inhibit fermentation.
• A bread-style dough can also be used for rolls. Laminated dough gives a thinner, crunchier result but takes more work.
• The same general dough can be shaped into Berliners, miguelitos, milk bread, or a ring-shaped cake. Adjust the sugar for the cooking method: baked dough can contain more sugar, while fried dough needs less because it browns quickly. The class mentions about 8% sugar for Berliner dough, but does not provide a complete formula.
• Adding cooked potato purée is discussed as an optional way to make dough products softer and help them stay tender longer.
• For the other pastries, miguelitos are oval, cut, dusted with powdered sugar, and filled; milk bread is topped with pastry cream and sugar. The instructor recommends baker’s dulce de leche for filling miguelitos because it is softer than confectioner’s dulce de leche.
• Cinnamon rolls keep for about two days. The instructor advises against refrigerating them because they dry out; rolls intended for later sale can be frozen. To refresh a roll, warm it in the oven with a little cream.

Presenter and Sources

The instructor is Ana, from Pastelería EUO. The class refers to recipe notes, lessons from the previous semester, and a video shared from the previous year.