Married to Medicine

Married to Medicine

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Cardamom Sweet Rolls with Maple Glaze (+ raspberry variation!)

Fresh from the oven, ready to be iced! (picture shows a half-batch; you'd normally use a 9x12 pan)
Finished product - perfection!!!

Mmmmmm, cardamom.

If you're not Swedish yourself, you might not know it by name.  Even so though, you'd probably associate the taste with Christmas (or winter) if you had a slice of cardamom bread.  It's a spice made from the seed pods of various plants in the ginger family - and it's a big time staple in Scandinavian baking.

Every Christmas my (Swedish - but like, 3rd generation) MIL bakes what must amount to 20 loaves of cardamom "coffee" bread, and my husband's gigantic family eats it for days on end - sometimes toasted with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, other times topped with a slice of jarlsburg cheese.  If you're up for a major undertaking, I blogged her recipe before here.  But stay awhile, because these little rolls are much easier to make - and they're soft and moist and gooey.  They pack a delicious burst of cardamom and they are simply to die for when you slather them with maple-coffee icing.

The dough recipe is a real gem; it makes exactly enough for a 9 x 13 pan of about 12 rolls, and it's easy to make and easy to work with.  I now use it for our Citrus Sweet Rolls.... it's SO easy to whip up, I made five different batches of rolls last week so that I could experiment with different fillings and icings.  This one and the Citrus Sweet Rolls were the winners, but don't miss the raspberry variation (below) - also SO good.

For the dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
pinch of salt
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly whisked

For the filling:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Smattering of cinnamon (1/2 - 1 tbsp)
3/4 tsp ground cardamom

For the icing:
2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
3 tbsp melted butter
Add in drizzles the following to taste, and to desired thickness/consistency

  • cream or milk 
  • maple syrup
  • coffee
  • extra cardamom (optional)

Here's a pic of the instant yeast I used.  We do NOT have a bread machine.



Place the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl (1tsp cardamom too if you're adding it).  Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the buttermilk - this should bring it to a little warmer than room temp (too hot will kill the yeast), swish it around in the pan to mix it, then add it to the bowl of dry ingredients.  Lightly whisk the eggs - just use the same pan you used for the butter/milk mixture, and add those too.  Mix in mixer a little until it comes together - use a dough hook attachment if you have one - then knead with your hands for about 7 minutes.  If you do this on a baking mat you should not need to add ANY extra flour or make ANY mess (see pic below!!).  

Place in a lightly greased or oiled bowl and flip it over so the top of the dough is also greased.  Cover (I use a wet dishcloth for moisture, you can also use plastic wrap) and let rise in a warm place (I turn my oven on and off briefly so that the oven is slightly warm) for 2 hrs or until doubled.


I can't say enough about these baking mats (and they're cheap too!).  It is practically miraculous how the dough does not stick to them at all, even without flouring them.  I did a side-by-side comparison of what happened when I kneaded the (very moist) dough on the countertop versus the mat - you can see how it stuck to the countertop but not at all anywhere on the mat.  You'd be fine without one, but you'd have to add flour.  I don't EVEN need to flour my hands with this recipe(!!!)

While dough rises, prepare the filling.  Simply mix everything together.  Then grease or butter a 9 x 12 inch baking pan (just the standard size; in the pics here I split the batch in two, and used two smaller pans).


Punch dough down, and again turn it out on lightly floured surface or baking mat.  Roll until it's about 18 inches by 12ish (doesn't have to be perfect).  Examine the filling - if it's pretty soft, just spread it evenly all over.  You *may* want to stick it in the microwave briefly, just to soften it for spreading, if it's not too soft.  

Roll up, starting at one of the longer (18") sides.  You can definitely pull and stretch the dough as you go to get more rolls out of it if you want.  Once rolled up, slice it into about 12 slices (so, 1.5 inches each to make 18 inches) - doesn't have to be perfect!!  By the way, I'm told unwaxed floss is great for the slicing, but I use this dough cutter by OXO - it's cheap and it's also really handy for scraping dough off surfaces and into the trash (you won't need it for that though, if you have the baking mats!).  Place the slices as evenly as you can in the prepared baking dish.  At this point, you can cover and refrigerate overnight if you prefer!


In this batch, I used half the dough for the regular rolls, and half for the raspberry variation) *****You can see how filling leaked out but NO DOUGH stuck to the mats - see that piece of dough at the top that goes beyond the mat?  It's stuck to the countertop; when I sliced the rolled dough down the middle, the part over the mat receded but the part on the countertop stuck.


Cover (I used the same moist dishcloth but you could use plastic wrap) and let rise again, again in a warm place, for about an hour, until rolls are all touching each other and appear to be the proper size.  If you refrigerated overnight, you may need to let them rise an extra 30 mins or so.



Risen and ready to bake! (half-batch)

Then bake at 375 for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top.  Do not overcook!!!!  Or undercook.  It's worth it to test a roll with a knife, you can just eat that one later.  While it cooks and cools a bit, prepare the glaze.  Just add everything in and whisk it up OR mix it in the mixer!


Fresh from the oven, ready to ice! (half-batch)

Cover with the glaze - I actually only use about half the glaze recipe, and I drizzle it, because I don't like a lot of icing.  I save the other half and make more rolls eventually; it keeps really well.  But if you're an icing lover, feel free to slather it all on!  Serve.  Heavenly!!!!


It simply doesn't get better than this!!!!




Raspberry Filling Variation:  For a fresh raspberry edge, add to the above filling recipe 2 tbsp of raspberry preserves (I used raspberry-apricot by Bonne Maman) and the zest of one lemon.  Then rip some fresh raspberries and set on top of the filling before rolling.  


Raspberry filling variation - easy! (half-batch)


Risen and ready to bake! (half batch)
Fresh from the oven and ready to ice! (half batch)

Another option (the possibilities are endless!) - Here I added apricot jam to the filling and reduced the sugar by 1/4 cup)


Married to Medicine Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to amazon.com where products carried on Amazon are mentioned.  The above post contains affiliate links.  

A Merry Little Christmas...

I can't believe been over a year since I did a personal post!!  I definitely need to put to paper what started out for us as a sad little Christmas but ended up just perfect.

Long story short, Mark got the "holiday block" and had to work looooong days all through Christmas, including Christmas Day (12/22 - 1/5).  He'd be leaving the house by 6:30am and not returning until after the kids were in bed.  We'd barely see him but we couldn't ditch him to go home to the Midwest... so my parents agreed to come to us!  I began seeing all the bright sides of the situation, and excitedly planned our holiday menu.  I made and froze my favorite Curried Butternut Squash and Pear Soup, and daydreamed about how much my parents would love our special "Christmas morning" recipe, Citrus Sweet Rolls.  I picked up a few extra gifts for my parents, to thank them for all the magical Christmas gift-opening mornings they'd provided me.  I felt relieved that my kids would have at least one Christmas in their own home, since I worry that they soon won't buy the "special approval" I get each year for Santa to come early to our house.

The stockings were hung on the window with care...
Stockings and tree skirt by Pottery Barn Kids (woodland collection).




























But about a week before their flight was scheduled to leave, my dad suffered a major knee injury.  He stepped funny on some steps and ripped his tendon fully out of his patella.  Surgery was scheduled for a few days before his flight, and his knee would need to be fully immobilized and unbendable for several weeks - he literally couldn't even fit on the plane (plus was in too much pain to have tolerated travel).  Oh man, what a blow - and not just for him!  I pictured myself all alone watching my kids open their gifts on Christmas morning.  How lonely it would be!


So sad.

But somehow, honestly... and to my complete surprise... we really had the best Christmas ever.  It was so simple and so sweet - and so relaxing!  The weather cooperated just right and we had a true White Christmas, complete with a blizzard on Christmas morning.  My kids (it turns out) are at the perfect ages for enjoying the magic of Christmas, and for being able to hang out all day at home without destroying the house.  A few of our highlights...

Even as I was still sure Christmas would be awful, I knew were lucky to have a major bright spot a couple weeks prior.  One of my best friend's moms plays for the Boston Pops and she was able to get us discounted tickets to the Boston Ballet's Nutracker (it's like, the Nutcracker out here).  😍😍😍  Claire has been taking lessons at Boston Ballet and loving them... her favorite movie this year is Leap!  Mark had the (Sunday) evening off and we had a wonderful time.  Even Matthew enjoyed it... he got a massive candy bar at intermission ;)

Love love LOVE this sweet ballet outfit by Janie & Jack.

We took the public transit - frigid, but added to the sense of adventure
Got the peacoat on a STEAL from GILT - it's Kate Spade!!
Glitter pink boots are UGGs, with adorable ribbons up the back - check them out here.

Such a magical night!

Santa Lucia day also brought Christmas cheer, complete with a beautiful dress gifted to Claire by her grandmother and aunt.  Mark is most obviously half Japanese, but the other half is mostly Swedish... and since that's the maternal half, it's the culture that dominated ;)

My little Lucia.

Christmas Eve, gulp.  I've spent soooooo many holidays alone with babies and toddlers, and it's so painful since nothing is open to take them to, to break up the day.  Plus it was freezing out - way too cold for the park.  I was really dreading it.  But actually, we'd ended up too busy until that day to do our annual tradition of seeing The Polar Express in 4D at the Museum of Science.  And as it turned out, MOS was open!  We flew downtown and caught the very last showing - ran into one of our favorite local family friends too!  After that, hmmm.... what else could we do to kill time?  It turned out that L.A. Burdick's in Harvard Square was open, too.  Famous hot chocolate on Christmas Eve?!  Perfect!!!!

L.A. Burdick's on Christmas Eve, for their famous hot chcolate

Then... Christmas miracle!  Mark managed to get off at 4pm!!!!!  I couldn't believe it.  I had purchased a prime rib, potatoes, and carrots, wanting the meal to be special for me and the kids... and now we had our full family together, plus we made it to the Christmas Eve service at our church.  The service was beautiful.  Say what you want about religion, but even my ever-skeptical heart is absolutely wooed by a holiday that celebrates (when you think about it) the birth of a child as a precious gift, mothers, families, humble beginnings, and "bringing silver and gold" to the poor.  I love Christmas... LOVE.  We hurried home through the gorgeous, snowy streets of Lexington, listening to Christmas carols and taking in the best holiday light displays.  Then, feast!  The prime rib and mashed potatoes were the heartiest, tastiest meal for a frigid Christmas Eve!  We opened all the gifts (other than Santa's) with my husband that night.  I was so thankful that he got to be there for it!!

It was a tiny gathering, but with Daddy there it was just right!

One last thing before bed - cookies and milk for Santa, and some carrots for his reindeer.  I love that my job running Claire's Closet Finds basically requires me to find the very best kids' products out there... we bought our Santa's Message Plate Set by Child to Cherish three Christmases ago and it remains one of our most favorite parts of the holiday.  The plate is a chalkboard, so my kids leave Santa a message (thanking him) and then he leaves a message back to them about his observations of their character over the years.  Check it out...


Santa's Message Plate - what they wrote for him.


What "he" wrote back to them ("Ho! Ho! Ho!  Dear Matthew & Claire Thank you for the egg nog and cookies!  Rudolf says thanks for the carrots.  I've been most pleased by how Matthew takes care of his mom and how Claire has been learning to control some of her "big feelings" this year.  Keep up the good work!  I hope you enjoy the presents.  -Mr. C") 

Christmas morning dawned not too early, as my kids don't wake until 7:30 these days (ahhhh, any time I wonder about having a 3rd I have only to remind myself...).  Mark was of course gone, but even being the only adult I really enjoyed watching them open their Santa gifts.  Claire squealed ecstatically when she opened her Maryellen (American Girl) doll.   It was so fun to watch her; the two Christmases I received American Girl dolls (Samantha and Kirsten) were my most memorable of all.  Matthew was thrilled that Santa brought him so many Zelda toys - how did he know?!  😉

Santa's special paper.


So in love with Maryellen and her Ice Skating Set!
Also LOVE our Pottery Barn Kids Stockings - check them out here.

It's hard to cook when it's just you and the kids, but I managed to bake up a super easy, ah-mazing egg bake.  Oh my goodness you have GOT to try this recipe!!!  Simply divine.  We had it with some chocolate croissants since the orange rolls hadn't quite been made yet.  As we ate and the kids enjoyed their new toys, the blizzard swirled around us... one thing I love about snow is that it makes the world so quiet - as close as it ever gets to silent.  Toasty in our apartment, everything was just perfect.  And then... Christmas miracle #2.  Mark walked in at about 2:00 pm.  Hooray!  We enjoyed the day as a family and gobbled down amazing leftovers.  Along with some Swedish Raspberry Cardamom Twists we made - these are SO good, and you only need 1/2 a batch!!!

BLIZZARD!!!!

Over the next several days of break, again to my complete surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed all my solo-parenting time with my kids.  They are at the best ages (5 & 7) - they're still so cute and fun, but they can totally entertain themselves (especially with lots of new Christmas toys) without making too disastrous a mess.  Many forts were made, and much cooking and baking was done.  Keeping it real - lots of relaxing screen time too 😉  The highlights:

Roll out your dough on one of these mats - it won't stick at all!  Game changer!!!

Cardamom Sweet Rolls with Maple Glaze, ready to be iced!

Raspberry Cardamom Sweet Rolls with Maple Glaze, ready to be iced!
  • Gingerbread house!!!
      
I did a lot of research before settling on this gingerbread house kit - it's actually pretty tasty!


This cardigan is everything.  😍😍😍
Check out Nordstrom's Mini Boden Selection - *everything* ships and returns free (no minimum!) ALWAYS.
OR check out the NEW spring line at Boden, it just loaded today - women's too!!!

In spite of gaining about 50 lbs, my heart is more full than my stomach.  This Christmas was just what I needed to sort of step away from my business page and our usually harried existence of work/school, and a zillion after-school and weekend activities, and to just be.  To enjoy my children at some of their most enjoyable stages.  To cook and eat with them some of the foods I hope have built and will continue building for them associated seasonal, familial, and just childhood-magical memories.  I have so many favorite Christmas carols... it's Christmas station or bust over here from Thanksgiving on... but the carol for this year is definitely "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

The above post contains affiliate links; I earn a small % commission on purchases made through my links.  No items were provided to me to review; this is all stuff I bought that we own and love.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Citrus Sweet Rolls (our Christmas recipe... perfect for a winter's morning)

Oh.  My.  GOSH.  When my husband and I first bit into these rolls we were absolutely blown away.  Better than my wildest dreams, these rolls had it all:  Moist, stretchy dough texture - even on the outside of the roll, sweet citrus zing, and a hint of savory (if you do the cream cheese frosting - I might prefer a citrus glaze, details and both recipes below!).

I love how citrus is seasonal in the winter - really brightens it up!
I wrote in an old blog entry that one of my goals is to try as many recipes as possible so that I can find THE best recipes to be the seasonal staples of my children's childhoods. Devouring my first roll I knew: I had arrived.  I'd found THE #1 Christmas morning recipe for my family.  For us, there can be no more important recipe. Of course, it'll be awhile before I'm hosting my own Christmases.  But for now, I'm thinking our tree-decorating day and whatever day we celebrate Christmas in Boston will include this recipe... and I'll make it at NO other time of the year, to preserve its magic.

Here it is, with pics. I tweaked and combined two different recipes to arrive at our final creation.

For the dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
pinch of salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly whisked

For the filling:
1 stick butter, softened
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp orange extract
3/4 cup brown sugar (I used dark)

If you like cream cheese icing - leave butter and cream cheese out in advance!:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1.5 cups confectioners' (powdered) sugar
1 teaspoons orange extract

If you prefer a citrus glaze:
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups confectioners (powedered) sugar)
pinch salt
2-3 tbsp milk or cream, as preferred for consistency
Zest of 1 orange

Directions (takes a little time, but not at all difficult):

Place the flour sugar, yeast, and salt in a mixing bowl.  Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the buttermilk - this should bring it to a little warmer than room temp (too hot will kill the yeast), swish it around in the pan and add it to the bowl of dry ingredients.  Lightly whisk the eggs - just use the same pan you used for the butter/milk mixture, and add those too.  Mix in mixer a little until it comes together - use a dough hook attachment if you have one - then knead with your hands for about 7 minutes.  Place in a lightly greased or oiled bowl and flip it over so the top of the dough is also greased.  Cover (I use a wet dishcloth for moisture) and let rise in a warm place (I turn my oven on and off briefly so that the oven is slightly warm) for 2 hrs or until doubled.

I can't say enough about these baking mats (and they're cheap too!).  It is practically miraculous how the dough does not stick to them at all, even without flouring them.  I did a side-by-side comparison of what happened when I kneaded the (very moist) dough on the countertop versus the mat - you can see how it stuck to the countertop but not at all anywhere on the mat.  You'd be fine without one, but you'd have to add flour.

While dough rises, prepare the filling.  Simply mix everything together.  Then grease or butter a 9 x 12 inch baking pan.

Punch dough down, and again turn it out on lightly floured surface or baking mat.  Roll until it's about 18 inches by 12ish (doesn't have to be perfect).  Spread the filling evenly all over.

Spreading the filling is a great time for kids to help!

Roll up, starting at one of the longer (18") sides.  Once rolled, slice it into about 12 slices (so, 1.5 inches each to make 18 inches) - doesn't have to be perfect!!  By the way, I'm told unwaxed floss is great for the slicing, but I use this dough cutter by OXO - it's cheap and it's also really handy for scraping flour off surfaces and into the trash.  Place the slices as evenly as you can in the prepared baking dish.  At this point, you can cover and refrigerate overnight if you prefer!





Cover (I used the same moist dishcloth but you could use plastic wrap, you may want to grease it a little because it'll stick a little bit) and let rise again, again in a warm place, for about an hour, until rolls are all touching each other and appear to be the proper size.  If you refrigerated overnight, you may need to let them rise an extra 30 mins or so.

Fully risen, ready for the oven!

Then bake at 375 for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden on top.  Do not overcook!!!!  Or undercook.  It's worth it to test a roll with a knife, you can just eat that one later.  While it cooks and cools a bit, prepare the glaze OR the cream cheese frosting.  Just add everything in and stir (glaze) or mix in mixer (frosting).

Cover with the glaze (or frosting).  Serve.  Heavenly!!!!

Frosted.  PERFECT December morning.
And here's the final product with the citrus glaze.  I really can't pick a winner!!!


Married to Medicine Blog is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to amazon.com where products carried on Amazon are mentioned.  The above post contains affiliate links.