Sweet Rolls

We have moved on to rich yeast doughs!

The difference between these yeast doughs and the ones I made before for bread is that now, I’m using more sugar and fat. This means two things. First, fermentation is inhibited and second, it creates a softer dough. To balance these effects, I add extra yeast and reduce the quantity of water.

Last night I made a batch of sweet rolls with a streusel topping. This roll isn’t quite as rich as some of the others that I’ll be making but I admit that it’s kind of a relief to finally move on to some sweets.

“Streusel” is a typically German. Streuen in German, is a verb meaning scattering or sprinkling, which makes sense considering how streusel is a crumb topping of butter, flour and sugar that is common on so many desserts.  I added some cinnamon to this one.

Once again, I got started too late. I thought I was out of the woods with the long fermentation times. WRONG.  Once again, I wasn’t finished until about 2 am. I have always heard that bakers tend to burn the midnight oil but I was hoping to avoid that with good planning. So much for that theory.  The bigger issue is that I wrongly assumed that I no longer needed my baking stone. About 10 minutes into baking I was greeted with an unpleasant burning smell. It looks like the bottom of most of the rolls got too dark. Overall, I'm disapointed. It looks like I will have to do some serious adjustments.