Bed of Sin-namon Rolls

The sinfully scrumptious cinnamon roll. A buttery temptress, seducing innocent passers-by with her irresistible aroma and layers of delicate pastry-flesh that spiral into an ambrosial abyss. Nothing I have baked in recent memory has sparked such lust, gluttony, and ultimately sloth, as the cinnamon roll. Following a recipe format from Emily Luchetti's Classic Stars Desserts, I made my very own delicious bed of sin in a 9" x 13" pan. It takes time and patience to conjure up such black magic (or shall I say, dark brown sugar magic), but the end result is worth every second of effort. Why wait until Fat Tuesday when you could be sinning with cinnamon right now?

Recipe for Bed of Sin-namon Rolls (adapted from Emily Luchetti's recipe for Cinnamon Rolls - makes 12):

For the dough:

• 1 tbsp (a little more than a packet) of yeast
• 3 tbsp warmed milk
• 2 + 3/4 cups of flour
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 3 eggs (room temperature)
• 12 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)
• Extra flour for dusting the counter
• Extra butter for the pan

Dissolve the yeast in the milk, and let it stand for a couple of minutes. In a medium bowl, mix your dry ingredients - the flour, sugar and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs with the yeast/milk on a low speed until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients, and mix on low until blended. Finally, add the butter and mix until all the ingredients have come together to form a dough. Place the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface, and knead with your hands for a few minutes until smooth and satiny. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl and cover with a clean tea towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about 2 hours. Prepare a 9" x 13" pan by greasing it with the extra butter. It can hang out in the fridge while the dough rises.

For the Sin-namon butter:

• 16 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 2 + 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar and it was great)

Wash and dry your stand mixer bowl and paddle, and beat the butter, cinnamon and brown sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Keep at room temperature.

Once the dough has roughly doubled in size, roll it out on a lightly floured work surface to about an 18" x 11" rectangle. Spread your cinnamon butter evenly over the dough. If you wanted to add chopped nuts, you'd spread those out over the dough as well.

Starting from one of the long sides, roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into 12 equal pieces and place the rolls in your prepared pan. Cover the pan with plastic wrap, and let rise again in a warm place for another 2 hours. At this point, they could be placed in the fridge to rise overnight, then placed directly in a 350 degree oven the next morning. I personally do not have that kind of willpower.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bake the Bed of Sin-namon Rolls for about 35-40 minutes, until golden brown and your kitchen smells like temptation. Let cool for 5 minutes, pry out with a spatula, resist premature ravaging, and drizzle with icing.

For the icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 + 1/2 tbsp water

Whisk together in a small bowl until smooth, and drizzle over the rolls. Devour as many as you can handle, and promptly pass out on the couch.