Cinnamon and Strawberry Scrolls

Thanks must go to Nigella Lawson for introducing me to the world of cinnamon scrolls via her beautiful book How to be a Domestic Goddess. Her recipe is the foundation of mine below. Trust me, these are worth the little effort required and make a memorable treat for breakfast, morning or afternoon tea. This dough is quite wet, sticky, and not much fun to work by hand so if you have a mixer with a dough hook, use it!

Line a 33 x 20cm baking tray with baking paper, letting the paper hang over all sides.  Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl.

Mix melted butter, milk and eggs together and add this to the flour mixture, mixing to combine. Knead the dough for 8 mins using the dough hook attachment on your standing mixer.  Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave to rise in a drought-free place for 30 mins.

Take a third of the dough and, using your fingers, press it into and across the prepared baking tray. Then, on a floured work surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the remaining dough to a large rectangle (dough should be about 5mm thick). Mix the melted butter, sugar and cinnamon together and, using a pastry brush, spread over the dough rectangle.  Sprinkle with the chopped strawberries then gently roll the pastry into a giant sausage.

Slice into rounds about 3 cm thick and place, swirly-side up, on the dough base in the tray. They will swell and rise upon the second proving so don’t worry if there are gaps.  Brush with the egg and set aside for another 30 mins to prove again.

Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan forced) and cook for 35 minutes or until puffed and golden.