Cherry Rose Rolls

Impressive appearance matched only by their delicious flavor

Baking is an art and I am still a learner. In India we never owned an oven to try all those baking goodies at home. If we felt like eating cakes, breads, delicious pastries and rolls we used to depend on small bakeries in our town. I remember when I was in 12th standard Monginis was the first ever brand name in baking I knew of! So after coming to land of opportunities[US], baking is one amongst other few arts which I learned here. More on how I used my oven when I was new to it, you can read it from here.

I slowly gained momentum in baking all the goodies and well but consider myself still at a learning stage only. Last week I brought some books on baking from our local library. Cherry rose rolls caught my eyes while browsing out for some new recipes from the Sourdough Cookbook by Rita Davenport. For more on Baking with the Sourdough, I will draft few points from this book and post it separately for all Enthusiastic Bakers. Keep watching!!


Here are some snaps on 'The making of Cherry Rose Rolls'

Kneading the dough

Shaping the rolls

let them rise!

Making indentations

Spooning the cherry filling

Source: The Sourdough Cookbook by Rita Davenport

Cuisine: American

Prep time: 3 hours

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes 24 to 30 rolls

Serves: 10-12

Ingredients:
3/4 C milk
1 envelope active dry yeast (1T)
1/2 C water
1 C sourdough starter
1/2 C butter or margarine, melted
1/2 C granulated sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
3 to 4 C all-purpose flour
1 (21 oz) can cherry pie filling
For decorating:
1 C powdered sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1 T milk

Method:

• In a small saucepan, heat 3/4 cup milk almost to a boil over medium heat. Do not boil. Set aside to cool 10 minutes.
  
• Sprinkle yeast over water, set aside to soften 5 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine sourdough starter, cooled milk, softened yeast mixture, butter or margarine, granulated sugar and salt. Stir in enough flour to make a soft dough.Turn on to a lightly floured surface. Clean and grease bowl; set aside.
• Knead dough 5 to 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if necessary. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease all side. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator 2 hours or overnight.
• Grease a large baking sheet; set aside. Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 24-30 equal pieces.
• Gently roll each piece between your hands to a 12-inch rope. On prepared baking sheet, loosely coil each rope, tucking end of rope under coil.
• Leave 2 inches between coiled ropes. Cover with a cloth and set in a warm place free from drafts. Let rise 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in size.
• Preheat oven to 400F (205C). Press the center of each roll with your fingers until you touch baking sheet. Make indentations about 1 inch wide.
• Spoon cherry pie filling into each indentation. Bake in preheated oven 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
  
• Remove from baking sheet, cool on a rack.
• For decorating, In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, vanilla and 1tablespoon milk, Beat until smooth. Spoon into a pastry bag. Decorate rolls by pressing mixture through a tip with small opening.

This weekend (19th July 2008) we went to Dorney's Park near Allentown, PA. It has both Wildwater Park and Amusement Park. We thoroughly enjoyed and had aches and sores by the end of the day! I took these rolls for snacking and everyone in our group enjoyed having them. So, its a nice picnic snack too!

I am sending this to Bread Baking day - Small breads event started by Zorra and hosted by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen

And to Susan for YeastSpotting

more baking from my kitchen:
Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins
Amish Zucchini Bread
Banana Chocolate chip Muffins