This rose cake looks beautiful, and is quite easy to do too. It is also open to quite a number of variations. The original recipe calls for rose petal jelly (you'll find a recipe for rose petal apple jelly here), which is quite pale colored and delicate, but you could also use cinnamon, increasing the sugar, or use maple sugar or maple syrup. Or use a different jelly. Or substitute for some or all of the butter with cream cheese. In other words, the recipe is versatile, and you may never find yourself making it exactly the same way twice.
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups (300 g) all purpose unbleached flour
- 3/4 cup (175 g) unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar if you are using rose (or another kind of) jelly, OR
- 1/2 cup sugar, and cinnamon or the other flavoring of choice, to taste (see observation below)
- 1/2 cup rose or other jelly, if you are using it
- A 3/4 ounce (20 g, about 2 1/2 teaspoons) cake of live yeast
- 2 eggs
- 6 tablespoons milk
- A pinch of salt
- A little more sugar, for dusting
Preparation:
Warm three tablespoons of the milk and dissolve the yeast in it. Work a tablespoon of the butter into 1/3 cup of flour, combine the mixture with the yeast, and knead until you have a starter loaf. Put it in a bowl, cover it with a cloth, and set it to rise in a warm place for a half hour.
Butter a 9-inch (22 cm) diameter pan with vertical, as opposed to angled sides. We used a ring pan.
Cream the remaining butter with the sugar and, if you are using it, the jelly.
A couple of observations: The original recipe called for white sugar. We used demerara, or raw sugar, a less refined sugar that is pale brown and granular (not sticky). You could also use dark brown sugar, though I wouldn't use just dark brown sugar. Also, as I noted in the introduction, you can also omit the jelly, increasing the amount of sugar to compensate for that in the jelly (Italian jellies are usually about 60% sugar), and add a flavoring or flavorings of choice, for example a teaspoon of cinnamon, cocoa, maple sugar or maple syrup, and you can also substitute for some of the butter with cream cheese.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
By now the starter loaf will have risen. Work it, the eggs, a pinch of salt, and the remaining milk (plus a little more if need be) into the remaining flour and knead until you have a pliable dough that will be easy to roll out.
Roll the sheet into a roughly 12 by 18-inch (30 by 45 cm) square and spread the creamed butter mixture over it. Roll it up lengthwise and cut the roll into 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) lengths. Arrange them vertically on the buttered pan and dust them with more of the sugar you used in the spread.
Bake the cake for 35 minutes, remove it, and let it cool before serving it.
Yield: 4-6 servings rose cake
Something similar but much, much richer: The Ultiamte Cinnamon Roll, With Vanilla Frosting
Butter a 9-inch (22 cm) diameter pan with vertical, as opposed to angled sides. We used a ring pan.
Cream the remaining butter with the sugar and, if you are using it, the jelly.
A couple of observations: The original recipe called for white sugar. We used demerara, or raw sugar, a less refined sugar that is pale brown and granular (not sticky). You could also use dark brown sugar, though I wouldn't use just dark brown sugar. Also, as I noted in the introduction, you can also omit the jelly, increasing the amount of sugar to compensate for that in the jelly (Italian jellies are usually about 60% sugar), and add a flavoring or flavorings of choice, for example a teaspoon of cinnamon, cocoa, maple sugar or maple syrup, and you can also substitute for some of the butter with cream cheese.
Preheat your oven to 360 F (180 C).
By now the starter loaf will have risen. Work it, the eggs, a pinch of salt, and the remaining milk (plus a little more if need be) into the remaining flour and knead until you have a pliable dough that will be easy to roll out.
Roll the sheet into a roughly 12 by 18-inch (30 by 45 cm) square and spread the creamed butter mixture over it. Roll it up lengthwise and cut the roll into 1 1/4-inch (3 cm) lengths. Arrange them vertically on the buttered pan and dust them with more of the sugar you used in the spread.
Bake the cake for 35 minutes, remove it, and let it cool before serving it.
Yield: 4-6 servings rose cake
Something similar but much, much richer: The Ultiamte Cinnamon Roll, With Vanilla Frosting
