Cinnamon Rolls with Cardamom and Lavender Glaze

Today I bring you a recipe that smells of countryside and fresh, sunny spring. I invite you to travel to the colourful lavender fields of Spain or the French Provence without leaving home, with every bite of these cinnamon rolls with lavender glaze.

Whether you fancy them for breakfast, mid-morning, with your after-lunch coffee, afternoon tea, or as a sweet bite before bed, cinnamon rolls have the wonderful trait of being perfect any time of day. For me, the lavender glaze makes them a luxury breakfast, though I wouldn’t mind having them at teatime either.

You'll see that the preparation is quite simple, and you can take advantage of the dough resting and baking times to prepare the filling and the glaze. I also recommend baking them in a cast iron cocotte, such as the Flavour cocotte from WMF. It’s not only an excellent baking option, but serving the cinnamon rolls with lavender glaze straight in it is a guaranteed show-stopper.

Flavour Cast Iron Cocotte by WMF

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500 g plain flour
• 1 sachet vanilla sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 200 ml warm milk
• 10 g fresh baker’s yeast
• 30 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 50 g butter at room temperature
• 1 egg yolk (to brush the dough before baking)

For the filling

• 50 g butter
• 80 g muscovado sugar
• 50 ml apple juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

For the glaze

• 100 g cream cheese
• 100 g icing sugar
• 1.2 teaspoons finely crushed lavender flowers

Preparation

For the dough

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, salt, vanilla sugar, crumbled yeast and sugar. Stir a little to combine, then add the warm milk.
2. Add the eggs and mix with the dough hook on low speed until the dough starts to form.
3. Add the room-temperature butter and knead until the dough becomes smooth. Cover and let the dough rest in the bowl for one hour.
4. While the dough rests, prepare the filling: melt the butter and mix with the muscovado sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and apple juice. Set aside.
5. After resting, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangle.
6. Spread the filling evenly over the dough. Roll the dough tightly from the short side to form a log.
7. Cut the log into 7 even pieces.
8. Line your Flavour cast iron cocotte with baking paper and place the 7 rolls inside with the filling side up. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes.
9. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C.
10. After 30 minutes, uncover and brush the rolls with the beaten egg yolk.
11. Bake with the lid on for 15 minutes at 180°C.
12. Then remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes.
13. While baking, prepare the glaze by mixing the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth. Stir in the crushed lavender flowers.
14. Once the rolls are baked, take them out and let them cool slightly on a wire rack.
15. Spread the glaze over the warm rolls and enjoy!