Chocolate and cinnamon-cardamom rolls

How can we make some sweets for coffee or snack?

A bejegyzés magyarul itt érhető el. 

Hungarian chocolate rolls!

I like yeast cakes very much, however, I don’t make any cookie with yeast here in Helsinki. I don’t know exactly why, but it’s time to make something with yeast and flour! The whole thing started with our neighbor’s idea who wanted to eat some Hungarian sweets. What? Yesss, the traditional Hungarian chocolate rolls!! (Eating it for breakfast, just from the plastic bag while walking around… It’s a marvelous feeling…. and yes, we miss it! Anyway, this kind of yeast cake is common in Hungary, but I have never seen it anywhere else. There is a similar one in the States called cinnabon, but that is covered with mascarpone icing and filled with cinnamon.) Well, after figuring out that we miss Hungarian stuff, I decided that I will make these choco rolls! The last challenge: I had to find yeast in the shop… how’s yeast in Finnish?? It’s called HIIVA! Let’s start preparing something good!

Furthermore, I have to tell you my opinion about the Finnish yeast because it’s different from the Hungarian version. The color of the yeast cube is darker and the surface is more shiny. When I put it into the milk the yeast doesn’t come up to the surface, and somehow the milk transforms into huge foam, while the Hungarian yeast comes up to the surface, wherethe yeast-foam appears and the milk remains still. At the first time, when I used this HIIVA, I was surprised and worried because of this difference, now I like to bake with this yeast!

After this small historical introduction let’s see how can you make this delicious Hungarian specialty at home!

Ingredients: (For a big baking tray.)

(1)  Yeast dough:

500 g flour

1 egg + 1 egg yolk

80 g sugar (I used my special vanilla sugar made from brown sugar. You can find the recipe here.)

80 g melted butter

200 ml milk

40 g fresh yeast

1 tsp salt

zest of 1 lemon

(2) Choco filling:

5 tbs sugar (I used brown sugar)

3 big tbs cocoa powder

100 g melted butter

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp rum aroma

(3) Cinnamon-cardamom filling:

5 tbs sugar (I used brown sugar.)

3 tbs cinnamon

1 big tsb cardamom

100 g melted butter

Preparing the dough:

You shall use a high-sided round bowl, where you can sift the flour into. (Many people thought that it is not important, but it is, VERY MUCH! Yeast cakes have a loose and spongy structure, which can be achieved with fresh yeast and well sifted flour.)

You have to melt the butter and leave it to cool down. Put the yeast with 1 tbs sugar into the warm (35-40°C) milk, mix it and let it rise up. Add the melted butter the egg and the raised yeast-milk foam into the bowl and make the dough. I usually start to mix it with a tablespoon and when the dough becomes homogenous, I put it on a wood desk and I finish here the molding. I put the dough to a warm place to double its size.

Don't forget to sift the flour!

I would like to write a few words about the leavening process. Many people like to leave the dough leaven for a long time. I don’t understand why it is thought that this long time leavening is necessary, when it is not!  This long time will lead to stop growing the dough, because the yeast won’t “work” in the dough anymore and it won’t raise more. The dough stops expanding before it is placed into the oven and the size of it won’t grow…. and then comes the big question? What happened??  You must NOT forget: yeast is a live material, which can work fast at first then it becomes slower and then it stops! You should remember this when you ask the question after 2 hours of leavening! J

The dough.

Fillings:

We can make the filling while the dough is leavening.  If you would like to make half dose of cinnamon and half dose of chocolate filled rolls than you should mix only the half dose from each fillings, because I made one total volume from each rolls. It means that I used 2 x 500 g flour!

Choco filling:

Mix the cocoa powder with the sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon then add the melted butter and the rum aroma to this mix. If the filling would be a little bit fluent then you can make it foamy with a tablespoon. If you make this foaming process, than the filling will become much more solid and it won’t drain from the dough roll.

The cholocalte filling.

Cinnamon-cardamom filling:

The process is similar as mentioned above. It’s worth to use the foaming method carefully, because it’s easy to over foam the filling, than it becomes to solid and you won’t be able to spread it on the dough.

Compiling the rolls:

I cut the dough in two pieces then I roll the first one for a thin oblong-shape. You should roll it as thin as you can. (It can be rolled maximum 5 mm, it won’t be thinner.) Spread the half of the filling on its surface then roll the dough quite tightly. Cut 2 cm thick slices from the roll,then put those to a silicon baking paper covered baking trays. This silicon paper can prevent the burning of your dough bottom if your oven would burn a little bit.

Compilling the rolls.

Baking:

The secret of yeast cakes is the baking process! I always put the dough to the COLD oven, it can leaven till the oven becomes hot. I don’t let the dough leaven more before baking because my opinion is that the long-warming period is enough for the dough. (The best ovens are the electric ones. I don’t like the air convection ovens, because the movement of the air dries the dough. Its worth to put a little metal box filled with water under the baking tray, it helps a lot!

The other important thing is the low baking temperature and patient! I bake the yeast cakes on maximum 160°C!!! Using this temperature the baking time is longer, approx. 25-30 minutes (it contains the warming time, too). This longer and lower temperature baking period helps to prevent the burning of the rolls or drying out of the dough!

Before baking.

In summary, I can tell you that my rolls were perfect! Everybody loved it and it was really good to eat a few pieces before sledging. I recommend everyone to make this chocolate rolls, because not just kids, than adults love it too!

The freshly baked rolls.