Cinnamon braid in skillet

If you've been lucky enough to try – not to mention make – that wonderful invention called cinnamon rolls , you'll easily guess that what comes next is going to create an overwhelming need to rush to check your pantry and get down to business as soon as possible. Or am I wrong?

It's hard not to fall in love with that almost inexplicable tenderness and that cinnamon and butter fragrance that will remain not only in the braid, but indefinitely suspended in the air of your entire house. Although it is true that, although I have urged you not to waste a second, we will have to apply a necessary dose of patience (minimum) and a lot of care (maximum) if we want our cinnamon roll braid to be a success and worth the wait and the time invested (which I can tell you is not too long). You can either start in the morning to have it ready at snack time or let it rise in the refrigerator at night and finish in time for breakfast the next morning (in this last case, the texture and flavor of the dough will be incredibly rewarded).

Although you can use a multitude of different baking moulds or dishes when preparing this recipe, I find it particularly appropriate to use the Le Creuset cast iron skillet *; the cast iron distributes the heat evenly throughout the dough, helping it to be perfectly cooked inside (keeping its tenderness) as well as on the base. In addition, due to its impeccable design, you can serve it directly from the oven to the table without having to remove it from the mould.

Le Creuset skillet , De Buyer serving paddle and Le Creuset cast iron trivet

Ingredients (for 8-10 people)

All ingredients should be at room temperature unless otherwise noted.

For the dough:

• 60 g unsalted butter, melted and warm
• 55 g white sugar
• 50 g mascarpone cheese
• 1 egg (M)
• 200 ml of warm milk (43-45ºC), never hot (+ extra milk for brushing)
• 15 g fresh bakery yeast
• 450-475 g all-purpose wheat flour (+ extra flour for kneading)
• ¾ teaspoon salt

For the filling:

• 90 g unsalted butter, softened
• 100 g white sugar
• 6 g (3 teaspoons) ground cinnamon (I use the Ceylon or Sri Lankan variety, which is milder and has a sweet edge)

Sophie Conran T&G Wooden Rolling Pin

Preparation:

From the dough:

1. In the bowl of our electric mixer (or in a large bowl if we are going to work by hand), combine the melted butter (already warm), the sugar, the mascarpone cheese and the egg with the help of the rods until obtaining a homogeneous mixture without lumps.
2. In a separate medium bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
3. Next, we add approximately half of the flour to the initial mixture, as well as the milk with the yeast and mix with the paddle attachment (or a silicone spatula or wooden spoon if we are not going to use a mixer) until everything is more or less combined.
4. Next, we add almost all of the remaining flour (we will reserve about 30-40 g of flour in case we need it later) and the salt and continue mixing just enough until everything is incorporated.
5. Now we attach the dough hook attachment (or transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface to knead by hand) and begin to knead at medium-low speed until our dough comes away easily from the bowl or work surface (about 8-10 minutes with the mixer; a little longer if we knead by hand) and has acquired a very soft and elastic texture. Although this dough is somewhat greasy, at the end of kneading it should not stick to our hands. If we see that it sticks too much, we can gradually add part of the flour (or all) that we had reserved.
6. Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a large bowl, previously greased with a thin film of mild oil, cover with cling film and, if you are going to continue with the recipe straight away, let it rise in a warm place (about 20-23ºC) away from draughts until it doubles in volume (between 1 – 1 ½ hours). If, on the other hand, you are going to let it rise in the cold, put the bowl with the dough in the refrigerator overnight; in the morning, take it out and let the dough come to room temperature before continuing with the next step.

About the filling:

7. Once our dough is ready, we deflate it by sinking our knuckles into it a couple of times, cover it again with cling film and let it rest for 10 more minutes.
8. Once relaxed, transfer the dough to a large, lightly floured work surface and, using a floured rolling pin, stretch it out (always working from the centre outwards) into a rectangle measuring approximately 45 x 25 cm.
9. Then spread the butter with a small spatula over the surface of the rectangle, leaving a 1 cm margin without buttering on one of the longest sides.
10. Next, sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon evenly over the butter.
11. Next, we begin to roll the dough over itself, starting with the long side that we have covered with the filling. When we get to the edge without filling, we brush it with a little water so that it is well sealed and we finish rolling.

Assembly and baking:

12. We then place the roll of dough on a flat surface so that it does not deform, cover it with plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes so that we can handle it better.
13. Meanwhile, we grease the inside of our 23 cm Ø* iron skillet with non-stick release spray and set aside.
14. We remove the roll of dough from the freezer, place it on the counter with the seam facing down and divide it in two lengthwise with a large, sharp knife.
15. We place both cut sides facing up (so that the cut of the layers is visible), we pinch one of the ends and we begin to braid them, making sure that the cut of both parts is always facing up.
16. When we reach the other end, we also clamp and place our braid in the skillet that we had prepared, forming a spiral.
17. We cover it once more with cling film without tightening it and let it rise for another 30-45 minutes in a warm, draught-free place until our cinnamon roll braid has visibly grown and looks fluffy (it does not need to double in size).
18. Preheat the oven (electric and without air) to 180ºC with heat above and below for about 15 minutes and place the oven rack at medium height.
19. We put the skillet in the oven and bake for about 50-55 minutes (if after half an hour the surface is browning too much, we cover it with aluminum foil, making sure it is loose).
20. Once we have checked that our braid is well cooked (if we insert a skewer in the centre, it should come out dry and free of crumbs), we remove the skillet from the oven, being very careful not to burn ourselves, and let it rest inside the skillet on a cooling rack for at least 20 minutes. After this time, we can remove it from the mould if we are going to serve it on a different plate, but I usually leave it in the skillet and serve it directly in it; I find it simply perfect to take it to the table just like that.
21. Sometimes, just like I do with cinnamon rolls , I finish it off with a cream cheese frosting whipped with a little milk on top or simply sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon if I don't want to complicate things. A nice scoop of ice cream is usually a perfect accompaniment, especially when it's still a little warm; the contrast is spectacular.

Le Creuset skillet , De Buyer serving spatula , T&G pastry brush , Pallarès carbon steel knife with boxwood handle and Sophie Conran T&G wooden rolling pin

It is best to eat this type of recipe with leavened dough on the first day, freshly made, when it retains all its tenderness. Even so, once it has cooled, it must be kept at room temperature and well protected from the air. If it were to see another sunrise and has dried out a little, a few seconds in the microwave at medium power will restore much of that lost tenderness, although I recommend eating it as soon as possible.

GRADES:

• *As I said above, we can also bake this recipe in another type of mould or dish (as long as it has the same dimensions as the skillet in the recipe and is oven-safe). However, when using a container made of another type of material (ceramic, aluminium, etc.) or another colour, the baking times will vary (increase) slightly and the exterior texture may also vary; cast iron and the black colour of the skillet used in this recipe retain heat much more than other materials or colours, which does influence the final result in some way.
• Dry baker's yeast is also a perfectly valid option instead of fresh yeast; it should never be confused with baking powder (normally used for cake-type preparations). One part of dry yeast is equivalent to three parts of fresh yeast. Thus, in this particular recipe, the 15 g of fresh yeast could be replaced by 5 g of dry baker's yeast.
• Sometimes I use sour cream instead of mascarpone – whatever I find at the supermarket. The result is an incredibly fluffy crumb.
• 1 tablespoon = 15 ml / 1 teaspoon = 5 ml