Chapter 3:

Falling Snow

As the chill sets up, and the sweaters come out. As the coziness of the season settles upon us, the smells, sounds, and colors there is one thing that undoubtedly brings warmth. Gingerbread. More specifically the spices that make it up, ginger, clove, cardamom, all spice, cinnamon all evoke the comfort that only this particular dessert offers in this season. The flavors of gingerbread, and caramelized butter frosting come alive in this fluffy brioche dough. Soft and pillowy just like the falling snow.

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I was always intimidated by cinnamon rolls, something about rising the yeast, making sure the dough was hydrated, and ensuring that it was soft and pillowy always had me hesitating. A few weeks back I decided I'd test my knowledge of brioche and took a blind shot at making cinnamon rolls and out came these babies. Gingerbread cinnamon rolls combine all the best flavors of cinnamon rolls and gingerbread cookies, and come out entirely unforgettable. They're also incredibly easy to bring together.

Milk- The milk in this recipe is the kickstarter for the eventual rise of the yeast and the general makeup for the fluffiness that a cinnamon roll provides. You're going to want your milk warmed about 100-110 degrees for the yeast to bloom properly with the sugar.

Eggs- The eggs in this recipe need to come to room temperature. As a general rule you don't want to put anything ice cold in a dough that will eventually be baked.

Flour & Butter- For both of these ingredients I find a weight scale is immensely helpful, a lot of the time I find it difficult to ensure that a ough is properly hydrated just by cup measurement alone. Factors such as milk, butter, and eggs all contribute to the hydration in said dough so having an exact measurement on the amount of flour you're using really helps! Same goes for the butter in this recipe which shows up both for the brioche dough and for the filling and they are crucial for that buttery taste, make sure you can get the best quality you can find.

Gingerbread filling- To create that quintessential gingerbread taste we have to rely on all the spices that make it up. Ginger, all spice, ground cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, all evoke the taste of this special cookie. I also add cinnamon sugar, and vanilla sugar for good measure but they're not necessary in this recipe!

Brown butter frosting- Even though this frosting takes an extra step its so worth it, the butter is browned and then frozen for 10-15 minutes until its room temperature and then added to the cream cheese powdered sugar base to create the best cinnamon roll frosting ever!

Baking Pan- I prefer using a cheesecake pan to make cinnamon rolls, it makes the release easier and gives me those soft edges that I like!