Who Are You?
In The Beginning
From as far back as our written history shows, cinnamon has been prized for its smell. God ordered Moses (Exodus 30:22-29) to make an anointing oil with, among other spices, cinnamon. The Egyptians used it in their embalming mixtures.
In the thousands of years between then and now, cinnamon remains a preferred flavor, aroma, essential oil, and color. Cinnamon is used today to flavor mostly sweets, such as cinnamon rolls or French toast or Snickerdoodles (my all-time favorite cookie), but it has its savory side too.
Cinnamon is common in main course dishes all over north Africa, China and India. Don’t be surprised to see cinnamon show up in curries or stews, lamb dishes or vindaloo. In the Middle Ages, the French put it seemingly everything, the Spanish in chocolates and the Catalonians in minced meat stews.[1]
Trade Ya
The spice trade remains a fascinating topic and the story of cinnamon keeps our interest.
How things from one part of the world became popular in another part of the world can be almost entirely due to trade routes. A country with a lot of one resource builds boats, load goods, braves the seas and finds a country with another resource. Resources are exchanged and an accord is reached opening a whole new market for good never before seen outside of their area of origin is created. That is, of course, an astonishingly brief and rosy picture of what was very scary and hard and deadly.
After Vasco de Gama opened the route to India around the Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese took to cinnamon like a goose to water. So greatly did they covet this spice, they “imposed a 50-year reign of terror from Oman to Goa” in which they enslaved the Sinhalese, sunk Arab and Malabar dhows and “any Alexandrian, Genoese or Venetian agents [were] hanged out of hand.”[2]
The Dutch wrestled away the cinnamon trade from the Portuguese but not at a bargain for the producers. The Dutch East India Company added order to the chaos of the trade and increased the exportation amounts greatly. So great had they made the demand that the trees were thought to be exhausted and the supply done in. Alas, innovation yields unexpected results when “a colonist De Coke suggested cultivating cinnamon trees.”[3]
It takes 8 years to grow a tree to harvest, but the cultivation was so successful that now cinnamon is grown in half a dozen countries and the unsalable bark is processed for its essential oil, a practice which was already well known.
Is It Or Isn’t It
Cinnamon is a kind of evergreen tree. So too is Cassia. Both are mentioned in the Bible and both taste very similar. Both are sold as cinnamon but one commands a much higher premium: Cinnamon. The cinnamon we want is the inside bark and is a light tan color. The curls happen naturally and are sometimes called quills.
Cassia is sold as cinnamon and there is a pretty good chance that is what’s in your spice drawer now. Its bark is a bit darker and not as quilly looking. Ceylon cinnamon is the real deal. The quills are tighter, more spiraled, and thinner bark than cassia which tends to be more open and thicker bark. Check on-line with better sources or your grocery store for bulk. If bulk is available, buy less more often as the aroma is pretty volatile.
There has developed a use for the essential oil, but I know nothing of this save that it exists. Someone I trust has told me that essential oils are not to be trifled with and learn before you start. When I asked her for some insight about cinnamon oil, her salty response was “burns your [arse] if you misuse it.” So, take heed. I didn’t ask but I assume your buns are still okay if you misuse it.
Spice as Remedy
Along with being pretty unknowing about essential oils of all kinds, I was surprised to read that cinnamon is among the better spices for health. According to the Dr Axe website, cinnamon contains high amounts of antioxidants and has been shown to have some impact on helping diabetes, heart issues, indigestion and more.
I Could Be Happy…
If I ate cinnamon rolls the rest of my life. No, that wasn’t the lyric, but it suits me.
Cinnamon Rolls-Best Ever Says I
No summary needed. They're cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
Cinnamon Roll Dough
- 85 g Room temperature unsalted butter
- 72 g White sugar
- 8 g Salt
- 2 each Eggs, room temperature
- 454 g All Purpose flour
- 8 g Instant yeast
- 170-203 g Buttermilk, room temperature
Filling
- 113 g Butter
- 113 g Light brown sugar
- 1 T Ceylon cinnamon
- 1/8 t Cardamom, ground
- 1/4 t Salt
Glaze
- 1 C 10 X sugar
- 1-2 T Boiling water
Instructions
Mix the dough
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Cut the butter into small pieces. Add butter, flour, salt, sugar and yeast to stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment.
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Start the mixer on slow to allow butter to work into flour. Add the eggs and mix to incorporate. Add buttermilk in thirds. You’ll want a dough that starts to clean the sides of the bowl, but is okay if it sticks.
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Mix on medium speed to about 80 degrees F. Feel the outside of the bowl. If it’s a bit cool to your hand, that’s good. Use a bowl scraper and remove the dough to a buttered bowl.
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Roll the dough in the buttered bowl, cover the bowl with plastic and place in a not too warm place to ferment. On the oven is too warm.
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Allow to double. Remove the dough to a floured table, roll into a rectangle, about 12” x 16”, and add your filling.
Mix the filling
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Mix the filling in the same bowl as you used to mix the dough. Mix to combined. Feel free to adjust the sugars as you prefer, keeping the total amount of sugar at ¾ of a cup. More or less cinnamon and if you are daring, a pinch of ground cardamom.
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Spread the sugar mixture on the dough which should be lengthwise in front of you and about 6 inches from the edge of your table. Spread the mix from the center to the edges, getting almost all the way to the top and both sides. Leave about 1 inch of dough in front of you plain.
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Begin with the edge furthest from you and gently roll the dough onto itself as you begin to form the cinnamon roll log. Speed matters a wee bit. The longer it takes to fill, roll-up, and cut the rolls, the longer the yeast is working. So, don’t be hasty, but work diligently. If you make a tear in the dough, that will disappear when the log is complete.
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Roll the finished log onto it seam, and with a dough blade or knife, cut the log in half then each half in half again and then each piece into three rolls. Place in a buttered baking dish to proof. I use this tabletop proofer which is super useful as we get to cooler temperatures.
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When they have filled their space and look plump, place them in a heated oven and bake between 14-18 minutes. Here in Oregon that time was over 20 minutes. Next time I will try 375 because I like a well browned cinnamon roll, but faster. Time duration depends on your oven and preferences for doneness.
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Remove to a cooling rack when done and prepare the glaze.
Prepare the glaze
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Wisk the boiling water, 1 T first, into the powdered sugar. It will shrink in volume and get quite sticky. If you prefer a runnier glaze, add a few drops of water. A little water goes a long way when making this glaze. Drizzle glaze over the rolls. Oh, go ahead and eat. No need to wait. Then, call the rest of the family for some.
Recipe Notes
A note: This makes quite a bit of dough and could easily be halved. As it was, I made pretty thick walled rolls, but dang were they good. I also have decided that a mixture of butter, light and dark sugars and cinnamon mixed with the paddle attachment is the best way to go. There just is no other way I’ve found to get as much sugary cinnamony goodness inside. Add raisins or pecans or walnuts or anything else as it pleases you. Pecans would have pleased my wife, but the kids are purists, so, we suffered with plain, hot, home-made cinnamon rolls. Ugh! The things we do for our kids.
Enjoy. I did.
Ooo, that smell…
Cinnamon rolls at home or that place in the mall smell and taste great. I tend toward the strong end of most flavors, especially things like cinnamon. So, I’ll add more than is asked for, maybe even doubling the quantity just because I like that. If Dr Axe is right, I’ll want more cinnamon every day. I read some people put in in brewed coffee, but I must say, I do like the idea of cinnamon in the grounds as it brews. Cinnamon compound butter or cinnamon cream cheese or a homemade mix of cinnamon and nutmeg and cardamom and mace and cloves sounds amazing just for almost anything.
Cinnamon has a spicy bite and a sweetness at the same time. If you haven’t seen anyone like this guy eating a spoon of it, it’s worth a laugh but it’s sad the waste (the fun starts at 1:10, but the build up is worth it). Try making a white bread, roll out the dough, sprinkle cinnamon on the surface, roll it as a cinnamon roll, pan, proof and bake. No sugar in this. It turns out that bread was the inspiration for cinnamon. My friend posted a picture of himself with his loafs and the tradition that was his family’s. It was a very nice way to remember family and a nice way to leave a good taste in his mouth. Doughnuts also leave a good taste. If not bread, you can always make doughnuts.
[1] Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne, History of Food, Barnes & Noble Books, 1992, pg 488
[2] ibid., pg 489
[3] ibid.
