Chocolate (or apple) cinnamon rolls

There are so many fillings I make for these rolls. Sometimes, I substitute the chocolate with green apple cubes soaked for a minute or two in some juice of lime. Sometimes, I add the apple along with the chocolate. I also do jam versions, where I just add some blueberry/raspberry preserve along with the cream cheese and icing sugar. The cream cheese is not a mandatory ingredient. You could leave it out. I love to add it to sweet rolls because of two reasons: one, it allows all other fillings to stick to the surface of the dough nicely and snugly; and two, it makes the rolls so light, fluffy and delicious.

The next special ingredient I use is the French vanilla creamer. It is not easily available, except in gourmet stores, but if you find it, bring it home. Its flavour and aroma is so gorgeously beautiful and it renders any dessert or sweet bread its patisserie-like quality. You could use it as a hot beverage creamer, or just add it to a glass of hot chocolate or plain milk and drink it up. However, if you are unable to find it in the market, its not worth fretting about. Just use a plain and simple milk powder/dairy creamer.

There are always those ingredients that add a 'wow' factor to food. They jump the line between good and great. I'v always found people asking me: "Can I leave this out?"; "Cant I substitute it with something?"; "Can I use dried herbs instead of fresh?"; "Can I use coriander instead of basil, or cottage cheese instead of cream cheese"- for some questions, my answer is yes, but in most cases, I wouldn't recommend it. If I say in my post that you can leave it out or substitute it then you can, but if I don't explicitly say so, then any substitutions/adjustments you make should be done at the risk of facing some disappointment when your timer goes off and you peek nervously into the oven. A small adjustment (which we Indians totally love to do) maybe the reason why your final dish was not exactly like someone else's although you claim that you followed the recipe exactly. Think about it; ruminate.

Baking is all about precision, in terms of ingredients, measurements, temperatures, timings, everything. It could be dead easy or impossibly nerve racking, but if you really follow a good tested recipe exactly, I don't see why you shouldn't be dreadfully good at it!     

Makes 20 rolls

Ingredients

Dough
350 g all purpose flour
35 g Nestle French vanilla coffee creamer (can substitute with milk powder)
35 g sugar
1/4 tsp salt
50 g fresh yeast or 2 tsp instant dry yeast
3 large eggs + 1 egg yolk (keep egg white  to brush over the buns)
60 ml lukewarm water
150 g butter

Filling

Mascarporne cream cheese (can be left out)

100 g grated dark chocolate (can use dark chocolate chips)

20 g icing sugar

Superfine cinnamon powder

Optional: 2 green apples, peeled, cubed and soaked in some juice of lime for 2 minutes

Method

Dough and first rise

Set up what you need. All ingredients should be at room temperature for baking any bread. Place all the dry dough ingredients, except the yeast, in a mixing bowl. Dissolve  the yeast in the lukewarm water and add it to the mixing bowl. Add the eggs to the bowl. Knead it together for about 10 minutes by hand or 20 minutes in a bread mixer/stand mixer at medium speed. In the beginning, the dough will be very sticky and loose, but as you continue kneading, you will see that it comes together nicely. Do not add extra flour. Place the dough in a warm place, covered with a wet cloth, such that the cloth does not touch the surface of the dough. Leave it to rise for about an hour or until it doubles.

Rolling and second rise

Place the dough on a generously floured work top. Divide it into two halves. Roll out one half of the dough into a flat rectangle about 2 mm thick. Spread a thick layer of marcarporne on the dough. Now, spread the grated chocolate, cinnamon powder and icing sugar on the dough. Roll the dough gently from one long side to the other. There is no need to seal the open end. Using a sharp knife, cut out slices about 1.5 inch thick. Place the flat on a well-greased baking tray and use a soft silicone brush to coat the rolls with egg wash. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes.

Repeat the procedure with the second half; you could use a different filling.

Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. And voila! 

Serve warm with some hot cocoa or a steaming cup of coffee.