Orange Rolls

Birthdays are kind of a big deal in Boy’s family. His mother does all that she can to make her children feel like they are king or queen for a day. As part of the royal birthday treatment tradition, everyone gets orange rolls for breakfast. It sounds like a good idea right? That is unless you are the one who has to wake up before the crack of dawn to make aforementioned orange rolls.

Well lucky or unlucky for me (I’m never quite sure which) the term orange roll means something entirely different to me than it does to Boy. In the home I grew up in orange rolls were always made from scratch and were served at formal holiday dinners (a rare treat). In Boy’s family, orange rolls were served out of a refrigerated cardboard tube (see lucky me I don’t have to make fresh bread, unlucky for me I have to eat rolls out of cardboard tube).

Yes, I was not excited about replacing my beloved orange rolls with a store bought version, but since this was Boy’s tradition, we kept it “as-is” and I’ve been “making” refrigerated, canister orange rolls for every birthday breakfast since we’ve been married. This year that tradition ended.

Happy Birthday Boy!

(Belated blog post because blogger was down on your birthday and the day following)

For his birthday this year I made some homemade orange rolls to replace the ones the tradition was founded on (does this make me a progressive?) I hope he can forgive me for messing with a 35-year-old tradition but for the sake of flavor and quality, I hope he’ll appreciate the change.

Happy Birthday!

Orange Rolls

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Ingredients:

ROLLS

¼ cup warm water

2 ¼ teaspoon yeast (active dry)

1 cup warm milk

½ cup unsalted butter,

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 cups whole-wheat flour (I used fresh milled winter white wheat-AP flour can also be used)

2 eggs

zest of 1 orange (2 tablespoons)

juice of 1 orange (¼ cup)

3-3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

FILLING

Zest of 1 orange (2 tablespoons)

Juice of ½ an orange (2 tablespoons)

3-4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¾ - 1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in ¼ cup of water and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attached, combine milk, butter, sugar and salt. Once combined mix in whole-wheat flour and beat well. Beat in eggs, softened yeast, and zest & juice from one orange.
3. Replace paddle attachment with the dough hook and add it 3-3 ½ cups of all purpose flour (dough should be soft and sticky). Knead dough for 8-10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
4. Shape dough into a round, place into an ungreased bowl. Cover; let rise in a warm draft-free place until double (about 2 hours)
5. If using whole-wheat flour; carefully deflate the dough after 1^st rise, reshape into a round, put back into bowl, cover with lid and allow to rise for another 45 minutes (until when a wet finger is poked ½ inch into the dough, the indentation stays without springing back or sagging). The second rise is not necessary however it will make for a more flavorful and lighter dough.
6. Deflate dough (again, if using whole-wheat), divide into 2 equal halves, shape each half into a  round then cover with a bread cloth for 10 minutes to allow for the dough to rest.
7. While dough is resting, make the filling by combining the orange zest and juice with 3 tablespoons melted butter. Add in the cinnamon (if using) and the sugar until you reach the desired consistency (if you like a lot of filling, you may need to add another tablespoon of melted butter and an additional ¼ cup sugar)
8. On a nonstick mat or floured board, roll one round of dough into a 19x13(ish) rectangle that is ¼-inch thick. Using ½ of the filling, schmear a thin layer over the dough leaving a 1” margin along one of the longer edges of the rectangle. Take the filling all the way to the edge  on the other three sides. Starting with the long side of the rectangle (that has the schmear taken all the way to the edge) start rolling the dough. Begin in the middle and work your way out to the edges. Continue to roll until the dough is in one long roll. Pinch the seam closed to prevent the rolls from unraveling during the final proof and baking.
9. With a string, dental floss or a sharp serrated knife, cut the long roll into 1-inch segments and place each segment 1” apart on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking oil or lined with parchment paper. Repeat steps 8 -10 for the second dough round. (If you would like to freeze your rolls for a later time (which I highly recommend – especially if you are planning on eating these for breakfast), place them on a greased cookie sheet so that the rolls are touching one another and then place them, uncovered, in the freezer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, transfer the dough to a freezer proof container or Ziploc bag.)
10. Cover rolls and allow to rise for 45 minutes (after 30 minutes preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.) Bake the rolls for 12-15 minutes until rolls are golden brown.
11. Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle or frost with orange ginger cream cheese glaze/frosting (Recipe follows)

ORANGE, GINGER, CREAM CHEESE GLAZE/FROSTING

     

1/3 cup (5.3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened but not melted

      5. 3 oz. (2/3 of an 8 oz. brick) cream cheese, softened

      1 tsp orange zest

      2 tbsp orange juice

      1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

      1 - 2 ½ cups powdered sugar

Combine the first 5 ingredients. Gradually add the powdered sugar until you achieve the desired consistency for glaze or frosting. (If you have leftover frosting from the Carrot Cupcakes-you can just use that.)

Notes: To prepare rolls from frozen, place frozen rolls in or on a prepared baking pan/sheet (greased or lined w/ parchment paper or silpat). Cover rolls with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking oil and allow to proof. This will take about 2 to 2 ½ hours.  Rolls can then be baked in  375 degree F oven for 12-15 minutes.

Source: adapted from my Aunt Gayle’s Thanksgiving Orange Roll recipe which was adapted from an Orange Rosette Recipe in a 1970’s edition of the Better Homes and Garden red checkered cookbook.

Gwenevere