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Friday, 14 August 2009

Of Food & Fellowship & Cinnamon Buns

The benefit of having been bitten by the baking bug is that it fuels my ability for hosting the many fellowship gatherings happening over the past few days and days to come.

Case in point -
Cell group last week Thursday was treated to homemade scones.
Dinner with Dan & Christina this week on Wed comprised of homemade minced meat pie, greek salad, and topped off with redcurrant pie.
Cell group yesterday saw me attempting to bake cinnamon buns (my version of "kanelbulle") from scratch (and they seemed to be well received, phew!).

Fellowship gatherings coming up next week at the Lidé home -
Cell group on Thursday;
Babyshower on Friday;
Dinner with some incoming Singaporean students on Saturday;
Dinner with friends from my Swedish class on Sunday.

There's just something about the combination of food and fellowship that's powerful yet intimate. Following the example of the Acts church:

Acts 2:46-47
They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.

It's nice to know that food is as well-loved here in Sweden as it is in Singapore :)

So, here's my recipe for cinnamon buns. I combined recipes for the American cinnamon bun with the one for Swedish kanelbulle :)

CINNAMON BUNS

(Adapted from:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/cinnamonrolls
http://www.thegoodmoodfoodblog.com/2007/10/kanel-bulle-swedish-cinnamon-buns.html)

Makes 12-15 buns

Dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups warm milk
2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet of normal yeast
40g melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt

Filling:
80g-100g melted butter
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 egg beaten

Melt the butter in a large bowl gently on a low heat and then add the milk.

When the mixture is lukewarm add the yeast, making sure it is really mixed through.

Stir in the sugar and the salt.

Slowly incorporate the flour in one cup at a time. The mixture will eventually come together, and you won't be left with a sticky mess forever!

Add more flour if need be till the dough has taken shape and is no longer sticky. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes.

Leave the dough to rise in the bowl covered with a damp cloth for 45 mins. Try and find somewhere warm as the yeast will do its job a lot quicker.

While the dough is rising , prepare the filling. Gently melt the butter and add the cinnamon and sugar, making a thick spreadable mixture.

When the dough has risen, turn out onto a floured surface and roll it into a rectangle about 5mm thick, then spread the filling all over.

Sprinkle the raisins on top.

Then roll the dough so you get a snail effect, and slice into approx 12-15 pieces. Place those pieces in a baking pan.

Cover the pan and let the buns rise for another 45 minutes to an hour until they've roughly doubled in size.

Coat the side facing up with the beaten egg. Then sprinkle the buns with some pearl sugar, or brown sugar if you can't get some.

Bake them at 200 deg C for 20 minutes at the lower rack.

Serve fresh from the oven, with tea or milk, and good fellowship! :)

Labels: baking, cell group, recipe, sweden