Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon is one of the most treasured of the ancient spices and I just love the warmth and nostalgia that it brings. I have wonderful memories of many scrumptious goodies laden with this beloved spice and sugar as its ultimate partner. Jewish baking is full of recipes with cinnamon at their heart and I remember my mother making these buns with my sister and I when we were young. I soon continued the tradition once I got hold of her prized cookbook. They use very few ingredients and are incredibly easy to make. You could probably jazz them up with fruit or nuts but I like them plain and simple, allowing the cinnamon to work its magic. If like me you can't wait, eat them hot out the oven or allow them to cool but they are best eaten the day they are made, hardly a difficult task.

Recipe by Myrna Rosen

(makes 12-18)

2 cups flour

125g butter plus 25g extra

pinch of salt

3 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp sugar

1 egg beaten in a cup and filled with milk

   and cream or just milk

cinnamon and sugar

Preheat oven to 200C. Sift dry ingredients together, rub or grate in butter with your fingers. Add egg mixture and bring into a dough. Knead lightly and roll out into a rectangular shape. This can be as big, thick or thin as you like. I make quite a large rectangle and roll it quite thinly, this gives me more circles of dough in the bun. Melt the extra 25g of butter and spread evenly over the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Again be as generous as you want, there is virtually no sugar in the dough so all the sweetness comes in at this point. Roll up lengthways like a swiss roll, slice into 3cm discs. Gently pinch the bottoms together and place open side up into a patty/ muffin tin. Brush with a little more melted butter, sprinkle again with cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes until risen and golden brown.