My cinnamon rolls reclining in glory, delicious with coffee or vanilla custard

By popular demand, I am putting up the rather gisted recipe I used for baking these lovely little sweet breads.

The dough

• 250 ml warmed milk
• 1 tsp yeast
• 150 g white sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 100 g butter diced and softened
• 800 g strong flour

Mix the above in a bowl, adding a little more flour if the consistency is not right. It shouldn't be sticky, but not dry either. Knead the dough for ten minutes  and then put it back into a greased bowl to let it rise until it has doubled, under clingfilm.

Take the dough out, punch it down and then roll it out flat. You want a big rectangle, longer than it is wide, less than half a centimetre thick.

The filling

• 20 g butter (softened)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon

Spread the butter evenly and thinly on the dough, then sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon (preferably mixed). The quantities are to-taste, but you don't want to overpower the flavour of the dough itself.

Now roll the dough up, long side first. Roll it as tight as you can. Pinch it together a bit at the top, and now it's time to cut. Cut alternating diagonals so that you get triangles. Don't make them too big. Squeeze them down a bit from the top, and then lay them out on a tray, sitting on baking parchment. Leave them to sit for about two hours, under cling-film or plastic bag, giving them time to double in size again. I put them beside the fire, which helped them along.

The coating

• 1 egg
• pearl sugar

Give each one a good coating of egg-wash, and then sprinkle pearl sugar on top. Pearl sugar is that expensive-looking white sugar like hailstones which you get on brioche and challah and Swedish patisserie. I didn't have any, so I made some by sprinkling water onto a plate of caster sugar, and then let it dry by the fire.

Put them in an oven pre-heated to 225°C for 10 to 12 minutes (until they are golden-brown). Take them out and set on a cool rack with paper towel on top.

Enjoy hot or cold with coffee, vanilla cream from IKEA or even tea.