Almond roll

Almond roll

It is a known fact among my family members that I love these rolls.  But when Swiss Bake stopped their special nightly sale at Cold Storage, I could no longer bring myself to fork out almost $3 for a little skinny almond roll.

Man is driven by need and I found a superb recipe in my latest baking book, Artisan Breads,  which I knew would meet my ( many ) needs. But when the roll turned out so huge that  it almost became a scandal, even I felt that I have carried things too far.

If you are into moderation, a quality I lack, then make a skinnier roll before baking.

Some preplanning is required for this recipe. The  recipe takes 2 whole days to make, the sweet dough and the almond paste on day one and final assembly and baking on day two.

Verdict : the overnight fermenting of the bread in the chiller and the introduction of malt syrup has lifted the dough to  new heights., at least for me. My roll is a bit burnt because it was baked at 200C instead of 190C , as a result of the oven's poor resolution. But apart from that, the almond paste was of the right degree of sweetness .

Here's 4 here gargantuan almond rolls or 8 medium sized rolls for the cautious.

Sweet dough ( to be made the day before baking the buns )

Milk, 30 C, 109 g

Egg, 50 g

Butter brought to room temperature, 25 g

Malt syrup, 1 g

Bread flour, 250 g

Instant dry yeast, 3 g

Sugar, 28 g

Fine salt, 4 g

Garnish :

Egg wash

100 g almonds, chopped

Combine milk, egg and butter in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients.

Using a hand mixer with dough hook, mix on low for 4 minutes and then on medium speed at 5 minutes,  flip over the dough to thoroughly knead both ends.

To check for full gluten development, the dough should be fairly elastic when stretched to form a thin pane.

Lightly flour a rectangular  tray. Roll out the dough  to make a rectangle, about 2 by 1 hand spans.

Chill dough with the tray  for 24 hours, wrapped.

Almond paste :

125 g blanched almond , grounded

50 g butter

120 g fine sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 pinch salt

Mix almond and sugar. Add butter and whisk.In a separate bowl, mix egg, vanilla and salt. Chill until ready to use.

24 hours later …..

Retrieve the tray of dough from the chiller and let it return to room temperature, about 1 hour.

To shape, roll out the dough to a rectangle, about 2 x 3 hand spans or slightly more. Spread almond filling and sprinkle almonds on the dough.

Roll the dough tightly, by pulling the top ( longer ) edge of the filled dough towards you and roll until the opposite edge. Close the seam and place rolled dough , seams down on a baking tray.

Lightly flour the dough. Divide out the roll into personal portions. Use a pair of scissors and snip halfway widthwise across the rolls.

Bend  the roll in an arc shape. The cut portions should look like parts of a gear .

Brush with egg wash and cover with an oiled sheet. Let rest for about 60 minutes, depending on the temperature of the leavening environment. As a guide, dough is ready for baking when it springs back halfway when poked.

Preheat the oven to 200 C

Uncover roll and egg wash roll again. Sprinkle with chopped almonds.

Bake the almond roll on a baking tray at 190 C for 25 minutes, rotating the tray midway through the baking.

You can apply a simple sugar glaze for sheen , which I did not. Cool completely before eating.

This post has been linked to Sweets for a Saturday #7