Iced cinnamon snail rolls and when less is more

I hadn’t made cinnamon rolls in ages and this recipe, from Bill Granger’s "Sydney Food", seemed easy and quick to put together. It was – I watched TV all afternoon and yet finished baking the rolls before dinnertime.
I tried to restrain myself and not eat one of the rolls right out of the oven, but ended up giving up the fight after 5 minutes: the warm, tender rolls, deeply perfumed with cinnamon and freckled with raisins were irresistible. And I must say that as much as the rolls look beautiful with the icing on top I prefer them without it, still warm.

You know what they say: “less is more” - but some people take the idea to a whole new level... :)

Iced cinnamon snail rolls
from "Sydney Food"

Dough:
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
¼ cup (60ml) lukewarm water
1 cup (240ml) whole milk
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter
4 cups (560g) all purpose flour, plus extra if necessary
pinch of salt
¼ cup (50g) superfine sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup (104g) golden raisins

Filling:
¾ cup (132g) firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, melted

Icing:
1 cup (140g) icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon warm water
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Start by making the dough: in a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside. Place milk and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter is melted. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Add sugar and stir to combine. Make a well in the center and add the eggs. Mix to combine roughly, and then add the milk and yeast mixtures. Stir until a dough forms.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes or until dough is flexible and smooth – add more flour if needed, but be careful not to add too much flour or your rolls will turn out tough. Add the raisins to the dough in the last 2 minutes of kneading – I used my Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment in the whole process and needed to add 2 tablespoons extra flour. Turn dough into a large, lightly oiled bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in size – 40-60 minutes.
Make the filling: combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a 23x60cm (9x24in) rectangle. Brush generously with some of the melted butter and sprinkle the filling evenly over the surface.
Roll the dough up from the short end, swiss roll style, to make a log. Pinch seams to seal. Cut the roll, seam-side down, into 2cm thick slices and place onto a large baking sheet lined with foil, 5cm (2in) apart. Brush the tops of the rolls with the melted butter , cover loosely and leave to rise until doubled, 30-40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Bake rolls for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pan over a wire rack; drizzle with the icing.*
Make the icing: mix the sugar, water and vanilla together in a small bowl until fluid enough to be drizzled over the rolls. Add more water if necessary. Drizzle over the rolls.

* I cooled the rolls completely before drizzling with the icing

Makes 12 – I halved the recipe above and got 8 rolls