Red Fruits Braid

A renewed version of the traditional kanelbulle or Swedish cinnamon rolls

Consumed during the coffee hour, cinnamon rolls emerged in the 1920s in Sweden and currently enjoy an international day, on October 4th. In their country of origin, where they are known as kanelbulle (cinnamon bread in Swedish), each inhabitant consumes about 300 units a year.

This cinnamon roll or spiral is made up of a brioche-type fermented dough, filled with a paste prepared with sugar, cinnamon and butter.

Some bakeries incorporate a touch of cardamom to the filling and others make long strips to make a flaky pastry. After being baked, they add icing sugar or a light glaze on top.

Prepare some red fruits with a touch of sugar and turn these rolls with all the flavor of strawberries, currants or blueberries.

Ingredients for a braid of 8 servings

For the jam of red fruits

• 300 g of red fruits (raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, currants, …)
• 150 g of special sugar for jams
• 20 ml of lemon juice

For the braid

• 200 ml of whole milk
• 20 g of fresh baker’s yeast
• 3 tablespoons of white sugar
• 450 g of all-purpose wheat flour
• 60 g of butter, diced and at room temperature
• 200 g of red fruit jam

For the glaze

• 160 g of icing sugar
• ½ teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 3 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons of water

Elaboration step by step

For the jam of red fruits

1. Wash the fruit in plenty of cold water and drain thoroughly. Cook over medium heat until it reaches 40ºC (about 5-6 minutes).
2. Add the sugar, stir and wait for it to boil to incorporate the lemon juice.
3. Cook for about 20 minutes over medium-low heat.
4. Allow it to cool completely before using it.

For the braid

1. Lightly temper the milk and dilute the fresh yeast in it, crumbling with your fingers. Let it stand 10 minutes.
2. Mix the sugar with the flour and make a hole in the center, like a volcano, in which to pour the milk with the yeast. Stir to integrate part of the dry ingredients before adding the butter dices.
3. Knead for 6-8 minutes or until obtaining an elastic and shiny dough.
4. Let it rest in a slightly greased container and covered with a clean cloth until it doubles its volume.
5. Degas the dough by working it on a surface sprinkled with a little flour, stretch in the shape of a rectangle with the help of a rolling pin and cover the surface with a layer of red fruit jam.
6. Roll the dough on the longest side, removing the excess jam that may be left at the end. Cut lengthways, in half, with a sharp knife.
7. Place the two halves together and braid, trying to leave the striated part up so it can be seen when baking. Join the two ends forming a circle and transfer to a demoldable base mold of 20 cm in diameter.
8. Cover with a rag and let it lift for 40-45 minutes.
9. Cook in the bottom of the oven, preheated to 180ºC, for 35-40 minutes.
10.  While the braid is in the oven, prepare the glaze. Mix the icing sugar with the vanilla essence and the lemon juice. Stir until homogenize.
11.  Add the water, spoonful to spoonful to control that it doesn’t get too thick. We have to obtain a light cream, reminiscent of condensed milk.
12.  Once the braid is ready, let it temper a few minutes before covering with the glaze and serve.

‘Harmonies in Flavors and Fragrances’. By Juan Muñoz Ramos.

From time to time we like to break the rules because this well understood attitude brings more pleasure every day. Pleasure like the one offered by a vermouth of Jerez –Fernando de Castilla-, a vermouth of old wines of Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez of long aging, with fragrances reminiscent of nuts, figs and iodine, accompanied by herbaceous flavors of absinthe and citrus and spicy botanicals.

And how are we going to maintain this symphony of flavors and fragrances? Well, thanks to the bubbles and fresh elegance of S.Pellegrino water. On the palate, when we have vermouth, water and puff pastry with the red fruit jam, it reaches perfection. Each of the products, water-vermouth-dish, fit one into another and achieve a tasty and pleasant ending … The pleasure of good food.

Tips

• Red fruits need pectin so that their jam has a good texture. The sugar for jams contains a percentage of it. You can substitute for normal sugar and add 2 grams of pectin.
• The jam can be substituted by a mixture of sugar and ground cinnamon. The result is similar to that of the popular cinnamon rolls.
• So that the dough is easy to handle during braiding, it is convenient that it is cold or that we work it in a cool environment.
• The use of a mold to bake the braid is key so that it maintains its rounded shape, but not essential.
• The rise times for the dough depend on the room temperature. The higher the temperature, the higher the lifting speed and vice versa. The times on this recipe are indicative.

Pair this amazing dessert with a Pork stew with Port wine, click here to see the complete recipe.

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