A cinnamon roll (also known as cinnamon bun, cinnamon swirl, cinnamon scroll, cinnamon Danish and cinnamon snail) is a sweet roll commonly served in Northern Europe and North America. There are alternative recipes that use Puff pastry instead of yeasted dough, but are constructed using a similar method.
Description
A cinnamon roll consists of a rolled sheet of yeast-leavened sweet bread
dough or
Viennoiserie,
onto which a
cinnamon and
sugar mixture (with some variations including
brown sugar,
raisins or other ingredients
) is sprinkled over a thin coat of
butter.
The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions and normally baked, however a
deep fried version is called cinnamon roll or cinnamon bun
doughnut.
Origins
Arab spice traders introduced the Sri Lankan cinnamon spice to Europe.
The origin of cinnamon rolls is unknown, but might be in
Byzantium.
The oldest recorded recipes for cinnamon rolls are from Germany in the 16th century.
Size
The size of a cinnamon roll varies from place to place, but many vendors supply a smaller size about in diameter and a larger size about to a side. One of the larger varieties can be found in
Finland, called
Pulla (, "pulling someone's ear for disciplining"), where it can be up to in diameter and weigh up to .
Haga, a district in Gothenburg, Sweden, has very large cinnamon rolls. These cinnamon rolls are called hagabullar or Queen of the Kitchen. Hagabullar are usually or more in diameter and are, despite their size, not considered a communal roll.
National variations
Europe
In
Denmark the cinnamon roll is known as
kanelsnegl, in
Sweden it is called
kanelbulle, in
Norway it is known as
kanelbolle,
skillingsbolle,
kanelsnurr, or
kanel i svingene, in
Finland it is known as
korvapuusti, in
Iceland it is known as
kanilsnúður, and in
Estonia it is known as
kaneelirull.
In
Austria and
Germany, it is called
Zimtschnecke. In
Slovakia and the
Czech Republic, it is called
škoricové slimáky/
skořicoví šneci (meaning 'cinnamon snails').
Since 1999,
The Swedish Butterkaka and Finnish bostonkakku ("Boston cake") is a cake made by baking cinnamon rolls in a round cake pan instead of baking them separately, so that they stick together to form a large, round cake.
In Austria and Germany, they are widely available at supermarkets and bakeries. A German variety, which is similar to the Scandinavian style, originating in Hamburg and its surroundings is the Franzbrötchen, a cinnamon-filled baked good inspired by the French croissant, which does not contain cinnamon.
In the United Kingdom, cinnamon bun, cinnamon roll and cinnamon swirl names are all used, and generally available in most supermarkets and bakeries.
Americas
American cinnamon rolls are frequently large, baked in a pan and topped with cream cheese icing (usually confectioners' sugar-based) and are sometimes fried, finished with glaze, and served as a variation of a raised
donut. There are also regional combinations: in the American
Midwest, especially
Nebraska and
Kansas, cinnamon rolls are commonly eaten with chili.
There are also regions that include bacon pieces.
In Canada, they are known as cinnamon rolls or cinnamon buns. They are usually self-glazed and not iced, nor do they usually have raisins.
Asia
In Asian cultures, cinnamon rolls may be made using a yeast bread technique called tangzhong. The technique is closely associated with Japanese milk bread since it gives it a soft, feathery texture. By heating flour at exactly 65°C or 149°F, the starches within the flour will pre-gelatinize, causing it to thicken more than average. Tangzhong allows the starches to retain moisture for longer periods of time, resulting in a longer shelf life.
Cinnamon roll traditions
In Sweden and Finland, cinnamon rolls are traditionally enjoyed during a get-together, including the consumption of coffee and or baked goods. In Sweden, the get-together is known as a
fika, typically held in the afternoon, by coworkers during a break, by friends or by family. National Cinnamon Roll Day (
Kanelbullens dag) is observed on October 4 in Sweden and Finland.
In Denmark, cinnamon buns are especially popular on Wednesdays, where an extra large variant called the Wednesday snail is sold. This tradition was specially invented during the 1990s
Along with Topfengolatsche, Croissant and Faschingskrapfen, cinnamon rolls are a typical baked good to have with afternoon coffee, known as "Kaffe und Kuchen" in Austria and Germany.
In North America, it is commonly eaten for breakfast or dessert. When eaten for breakfast in the U.S., it may be served with cream cheese frosting.
Cinnamon buns are particularly popular during the Christmas season in both Slovakia and the Czech Republic. They form part of the traditional Christmas baking repertoire in many households, alongside other festive treats like vanilla crescents (vanilkové rožteky) and linzer cookies.
Gallery
File:Korvapuusti1.jpg|Finnish cuisine korvapuusti
File:Danskkanelsnegl.jpg|Danish cuisine kanelsnegl
File:Kanelboller.jpg|Norwegian skillingsbolle
File:Cinnamon-Roll-US-Bakery.jpg|American cuisine cinnamon roll
File:Cinnamon rolls shaped and ready to proof.jpg|alt=7 raw cinnamon rolls in a round pan, with some space between them to allow for expansion|Raw cinnamon rolls
File:Cinnamon rolls ready to bake.jpg|alt=The rolls look puffier and have expanded to fill most of the space|Ready to bake after proofing
File:Cinnamon rolls partially baked in a solar oven.jpg|alt=The rolls have expanded even more, to fill the entire pan from edge to edge with no gaps. The dough looks dry but is pale and soft|Partially baked rolls in a solar cooker
File:Cinnamon rolls fully baked.jpg|alt=The rolls are dry and golden brown.|Fully baked cinnamon rolls
See also
