we heart cinnamon rolls...

...with a maple syrup glaze

It's that special time of year when chocolate and greetings card companies encourage you to demonstrate the extent of your love in exchange for cash on February 14th. Yes, I admit it, I hate this 'holiday'. I'm not very mushy and I don't care for hot pink. I don't like roses much either, being more of a wild-flower kind of gal. While some couples like to gaze into each other's eyes over their romantic meal, we are as likely to fall asleep into our fancy dinner.

So this year I am making a stand, I will not give into the pink and red sprinkles or take the heart-shaped cookie cutters out of the baking drawer. I will resist the urge to colour anything pink or carve cupid bows into root vegetables. Angel food and red velvet cupcakes are strictly off the menu. Instead I am making good old reliable, everyday, unromantic cinnamon rolls. So there!

I make these the night before and leave them for their second rise in the fridge overnight. Nothing compares to the lovely smell of these gorgeous yeast buns baking in the oven… big, rich, and full to bursting with cinnamon. These are heart shaped and each one will serve two people, perfect for Valentine's day... whoops!

...with an icing sugar glaze

Dough:
600 - 650g plain flour
1 package sachet (7 grams) dry yeast
240ml milk
75g butter
65g granulated white sugar
3 large eggs

Filling:
160g light brown sugar
35g plain flour
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
110g butter, cold and cubed

Glaze: (Optional, but great)
60g icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment (you can use an electric hand mixer), combine half of the flour with the yeast.

In a small saucepan, heat the milk, butter, sugar, and salt till just warm and the butter is almost melted. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture, with the mixer on a low setting.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then beat this mixture on high speed for a couple of minutes. Replace the paddle with the dough hook (or knead by hand), and knead in as much of the remaining flour to make a soft dough that is smooth and elastic (up to 5 minutes), but not sticky. Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled (about 1 1/2 - 2 hours). Then gently punch the dough to release the air and let rest for a few minutes.

Make the filling. In a food processor whizz together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon and the cold butter into crumbs.

Roll the dough into a 12 inch square. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the rolled out dough and top. Roll the dough evenly from each side to meet in the centre pinching the end into a heart shape. Slice the roll into six equal-sized pieces. Arrange rolls in a large, greased, round glass pie dish. Any sugar mix that escaped during cutting can be sprinked over the top, it makes a lovely crunchy crust. Cover rolls loosely with plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise, at room temperature, until almost doubled (about one hour). They are now ready to bake, or, at this point you can refrigerate the Cinnamon Rolls overnight or up to 24 hours. Next morning, remove the rolls from the refrigerator, take off the plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Bake in a 180C oven for 30 minutes or till light brown, and a toothpick inserted into one of the buns, comes out clean. Remove rolls from oven. Cool for 5 minutes and then invert onto a baking rack and re-invert onto a serving plate or platter. You can drizzle with maple syrup and a bit of powdered sugar shaken over the top looks nice. An icing glaze is more traditional on these and most people seem to prefer it.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 6 large rolls and 12 servings.

Baked in a round tin they will keep a heart shape.

This recipe has been adapted from the joy of baking

This recipe has been submitted to English Mums Baked with Love Bake-off http://englishmum.com/english-mums-baked-with-love-bakeoff.html