Lemon Raspberry Rolls

Oh my goodness. I am so excited to share these with you.

Way back in August one of my oldest friends (Hi Scott!) went to Japan to visit his wife, and posted a stream of mesmerizing photos of Japanese food. I love learning about what people eat in different countries – especially what they eat for dessert. One of the most interesting foods that he shared was fruit flavored “cinnamon” rolls. No cinnamon. Just fruit. I knew immediately that it was something that I wanted to try.

It only took me 4 months, but I finally got around to making them a few weeks ago, and they were fabulous.  I love, Love, LOVE  the raspberry – lemon combination, especially this time of year, when everything outside is so cold and dreary. I can eat these and pretend that it sunny springtime. Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, these raspberry lemon rolls would be a perfect Easter treat.

I’m not going to lie to you, these take a fair amount of time to make since you have to allow the dough to rise twice. Because of that, I’m not sure I would attempt them for breakfast, but if you really wanted to, I think you could prep them, and let them rise  the night before, and then pop them in the fridge overnight before baking them off in the morning. It was a fun Sunday afternoon activity for me, and I’m happier having something sweet for dessert anyway.

Anyway, you should definitely make these, and you should definitely do it as soon as possible. Just looking at these pictures… I am totally craving some raspberry rolls right now. Ugh! I might just have to whip up another batch this weekend. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten past cinnamon, I feel like a whole new world of rolls has been opened up to me. And I can’t wait to try some new flavor combinations. That’s exciting, but also a little scary because I have no idea what to do next.

Lemon Raspberry Rolls

(Adapted from Paula Deen’s Cinnamon Rolls)

Ingredients

1 scant Tbsp (or 1 1/4 oz. Packet) Instant Dry Yeast
1/2 cup warm Water (about 110 degrees)
1/2 cup Milk
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tsp. Salt
1 large Egg
3 1/2 cup Flour, plus extra for dusting
1/2 cup seedless Raspberry Jam

2 cups Powdered Sugar
2 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter, melted
1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp. Lemon Zest
2 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp. Milk or Heavy Cream

Mix the yeast with warm water, and set aside to proof.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk until bubbles just begin to form around the sides of the pan, and then remove from heat.

In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, sugar, butter, salt, egg, and 2 cups of flour. Mix in the proofed yeast. Note: If no bubbles have formed on the yeast, it is probably dead. You should throw it out and start over with fresh yeast.

Mix in the remaining 1 1/2 cup of flour, and scoop the dough onto a well floured surface. Kneed the dough for about 5 min. until it becomes elastic. Then place in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (about 1 hour).

Once doubled. Roll the dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle that is about 18” x 9”. Spread the jam evenly over the dough, and roll up the long end of the rectangle. You should now have a log that is about 18” long, and trim a couple inches off of each end. Using a sharp knife, cut 1” rolls, and place into a greased pan.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cover the rolls and allow to rise until doubled in size (about 30 min.) Then bake at 350 for 30 min. until golden brown.

While the rolls cool, mix up the glaze – powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest, and heavy cream. Once cool, pour the lemon glaze over the raspberry rolls, and enjoy!

Why should cinnamon have all the swirly fun anyway?