Cinnamon Escargot

I've made cinnamon rolls in the past (un-vegan, due to unnecessary egg wash) and while they've been quite nice, that's just it. 'Nice' isn't very exciting. 'Nice' is bourbons with a cup of tea that has just a little too much milk in it. These badboys, however, are cinnamon rolls with added awesome. Again I'm cooking from Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess but there's so much gold in that book. I don't think the picture does these justice, perhaps we should have photographed them all in the pan as they look amazing. I misread the recipe and used muffin cases to make these which meant the pastry didn't puff up properly so make sure just to put the syrup/pastry straight onto the muffin tray.

I'd made these intending to share them among some friends, but plans changed and we were left alone with the schnecken, which is not a good idea if you want to save them! Cathy insists that she can usually stop after eating enough of something, but these are the kind of devils that convince you to consume as many as possible, as quickly as possible.

If you're like me and you don't use rolling pins very often, you might want to consider splitting the dough in half and making two logs, as rolling out a 60cm x 30cm rectangle is more difficult than it sounds. If you are a master of the pin, then go and be proud with your skills. I ended up with my log having a thicker middle, so I had to squeeze and coax it into a more even shape. 60cm takes up a lot of surface space too! Aside from the rolling, this isn't a particularly difficult recipe to do, though the pastry needs to rise, so make sure you have a bit of time for it.

Schnecken
adapted from How To Be a Domestic Goddess

makes 12 buns

pastry:
500g bread flour
50g castor sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
one 7g sachet easy-bake yeast
75g dairy free margarine
150ml dairy free milk
2 tablespoons ground flax seed

syrup:
125g dairy free margarine
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
4 tablespoons maple syrup (I wouldn't worry about the grade too much)
3 tablespoons golden syrup
100g walnuts, chopped (You could use other nuts if you'd prefer)

glaze:
1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 3 tablespoons dairy free milk

filling:
50g caster sugar
100g demerara sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

equipment:
12 cup muffin tin
Rolling pin
A baking sheet large enough to cover the muffin tin

Directions

1. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in the sugar and salt. Then stir in the yeast (direct contact with salt can kill yeast, so avoid just dumping everything on top of the flour like I have in the past!). Melt the butter in the milk in a microwave and while it's doing it's thing, whisk the flax seed with five tablespoons of water until thickened. Combine these liquid ingredients, add them to the dry ones and mix until the dough comes together in one big lump.

2. Knead the dough for about ten minutes (put a couple of good songs on and the time flies) until the dough is smooth, soft and springy. Put a little oil in the bottom of a clean bowl and roll the dough in it until covered (to prevent a skin forming). Cover the bowl with some clingfilm and leave the dough to rise for about an hour or until roughly doubled.

3. While the dough is rising, put the margarine in a bowl and beat it until softened and smooth, then beat in the sugar. Add both the syrups add beat some more (none of this is particularly time consuming). 'Syrup' is a bit misleading as it ends up looking a bit like Angel Delight, if you've ever tried that before. Divide this very thick but airy mixture into the cups of the muffin tin and then add about a tablespoon of the nuts on top of each dollop.

4. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. When the dough has risen, put it on a large surface and punch it down (as it sounds, you just want to flatten it down and knock the air out of it). Knead it briefly back into a ball then roll out to a 60x30cm (or as near as possible) rectangle with the long side near you.

5. Brush the glaze over the dough with your fingers (or a pastry brush if you're a little more civilised), then combine the filling ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle over. Grab the ends furthest away from you and roll the dough into a log, firmly but not too tight. As I had to, squeeze it into a more uniform shape if yours is less than perfect.

6. Cut the log into 12 even slices and lay each slice cut-side up on top of each syrup-nut mix. Cover the muffin tin with a slightly damp teatowel and leave to prove (rise a little more) for about 20 minutes, until the spiral slices have puffed up a bit more.

7. Chuck them in the oven for 20 minutes, though check at 15, your oven may be more powerful. They're done when the pastry is golden and fairly crisp. They will look awesome too. Remove from oven.

8. Put a baking sheet on top of the schnecken and turn the whole lot upside down (seems scary but is easier than you'd expect, just don't forget to wear oven gloves!). Add any nuts and syrup that remain in the muffin tin to the buns and leave to cool (if you can leave them alone that long).