with

Waitrose Weekend

and

Home for Christmas

Today’s recipe for “Tear & Share” Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls is a family tradition on Christmas Eve – these buttery, pull-apart spiced and iced rolls are enjoyed with a mug of rich, fragrant hot chocolate topped with a generous swirl of whipped cream, whilst sitting next to a roaring log fire, or as is often the case, whilst sitting at the scrubbed pine kitchen table, surrounded by bags of flour, pots of aromatic spices and plates of freshly made food for the annual Christmas Eve Buffet. Every year my daughter makes it home for Christmas, and she and other members of my family look forward to kicking off the festive season with these delectable cinnamon rolls.

I am delighted and thrilled to say that today’s recipe will also be shared in this week’s Waitrose Weekend newspaper, as I am featured as one their “brightest food stars”, and if you pick up a copy today, the 24th November, you will see an interview with me along with my recipe for these “Tear & Share” Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls. It’s all part of Waitrose’s #HomeForChristmas campaign, with recipes, tips and tales of how I (and several other featured bloggers and food writers) get ready and prepare for Christmas with our families, some whom will have have travelled home for Christmas. My daughter lives and works in London now, so it’s always a very special time when she is home for this magical time of the year.

https://youtu.be/xtKYdG9r0Pk

I LOVE the video that Waitrose have commissioned for this special campaign, with the familiar Robin making his (or her) way home for Christmas to a frosty, winter garden in the UK somewhere! Hopefully Hannah my daughter won’t have to brave stormy seas and windy skies on her way home this year, but when she does arrive home on Christmas Eve, we will decorate the tree together, as we always do, with a platter of these buttery cinnamon rolls to enjoy whilst we do it. It’s not very fashionable nowadays to leave decorating the tree so late, but it’s a tradition that I grew up with, and my mum and dad made Christmas Eve so special and magical by doing it this way, it truly felt like a very special time of the year.

The recipe that I have shared has two methods listed – one method is for the classic yeast Danish pastry type of dough, and then for frazzled bakers or nervous cooks, I have suggested using ready made puff pastry for these cinnamon rolls too……after all, it’s all about what is comfortable for you and what fits in best with your busy festive schedule in the kitchen. If there are any rolls left, then these are also wonderful when served as part of the Christmas morning breakfast, and, if you are really pushed for time, then these rolls can be frozen and defrosted overnight for breakfast, or early in the morning for Christmas Eve. (but not in the shape of a Christmas tree, as it will be too awkward for the freezer – separate the rolls to freeze them)

Other Christmas Eve food traditions are the big buffet that I always do; my mum and Hannah my daughter and I are in the kitchen all day baking and cooking, but once all the food has been cooked and prepared, that’s it for the rest of the evening, as it’s what we call a “running buffet”, with the food laid out on the kitchen table, where all the family can help themselves from for the rest of Christmas Eve and nibble and snack to their heart’s content! Food that always makes an appearance, as well as the cinnamon rolls, are…….

……mince pies, sausage rolls, retro style vol-au-vents, pork pies, cheese scones and cheese straws, sandwiches of all sorts in homemade bread, celery and crudites, crisps and dips, salad, cheese board with homemade chutney and pickles, roast ham or gammon, Christmas cake, fresh seasonal fruit and nuts, and Christmas style cocktails.

Sometimes, not very often, when we have been out late for last minute Christmas shopping, I’ve popped a casserole in the slow cooker, and we have had a “sit down meal” with a dessert buffet afterwards. A big family favourite is my Elizabethan Spiced Beef Stew, a genuine Elizabethan recipe, which I have adapted for modern day cooking, I serve this dish with Spiced Red Cabbage and Apples, as well as piles of fluffy mashed potatoes – It’s a veritable Christmas Carol of a recipe, with high notes of spices and low notes of tender, rich beef……it also has a fruity jingle with plump prunes and nutty chestnuts, it’s simply divine.

By the time you read this, I will have made my Christmas pudding, cake and mincemeat too, with lots of other baking in the freezer; I start my festive baking and cooking at the end of October, and by the middle of December, I am all set for the big day and beyond. I also make lots of my own jams, pickles and chutney, for the holiday cheese boards and charcuterie platters, as well as gifts for friends and family. And, another handy tip I’d like to share, is that I always have the Christmas Dinner table set up a few days beforehand, so I can take my time and be creative with the setting, and there’s no last minute rush to set it.

As well as my recipe for “Tear & Share” Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls, which I hope you will make for your Christmas Eve this year, I’ve also shared a few more popular Christmas and New Year recipes below, and DON’T forget to pop into Waitrose to pick up your free copy of Waitrose Weekend, where I am featured this week! I hope all my followers and readers have a Merry Christmas, and a very happy, prosperous and healthy New Year! I’ll be back in a few days with more seasonally inspired recipes as well as my latest traveller’s tales…..Karen

Disclaimer: Collaborative post with Waitrose and Waitrose Weekend

“Tear & Share” Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls

Print recipe

“Tear & Share” Christmas Tree Cinnamon Rolls

Serves	12 rolls
Prep time	1 hour, 45 minutes
Cook time	25 minutes
Total time	2 hours, 10 minutes
Allergy	Egg, Wheat
Dietary	Vegetarian
Meal type	Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Freezable, Pre-preparable, Serve Cold
Occasion	Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Valentines day
Region	European
By author	Karen S Burns-Booth

I make these “Tear & Share” rolls every Christmas Eve, and, they can be made two ways – with home-made croissant or Danish pastry dough, or, if time is very short, you can use ready-made puff pastry. We always start the evening of festive feasting with these buttery, flaky spiced rolls, served with a mug of hot chocolate and cream whilst we decorate the Christmas tree, as it is a family tradition to wait until we are all together to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. If there are any of these delectable rolls left, then they can be enjoyed as part of family Christmas Day breakfast the next day.

Ingredients

Optional

450g block of ready-made butter puff pastry

Dough

115ml warm milk
175g softened butter
1 ½ teaspoons easy blend dried yeast
25g softened butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
325g strong white bread flour
1 free-range egg
2 tablespoons water

Filling

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
75g dark brown sugar

Glaze

Warm water to mix
125g icing sugar

Decoration

Assorted jellied sweets
Edible silver balls
Green glace cherries, finely sliced
Undyed glace red cherries

Note

Directions

Step 1	BY HAND: Put the egg, flour, salt, sugar, 25g butter and the yeast in a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon, slowly mix in the warm milk and the warm water until the mixture forms into pliable dough. Knead on a floured board for 5 to 10 minutes until the dough is elastic and smooth, then cover and put the dough in a warm place, until it has nearly doubled in size. BREAD MACHINE: Put the milk, water, egg, flour, salt, sugar, 25g butter and the yeast into your machine and select dough, normal. This will mix, knead and prove the dough and takes about an hour and a half depending on your machine.
Step 2	Preheat oven temperature to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease and/or line a large baking sheet with baking paper.
Step 3	SHAPING DOUGH: Place the dough on a floured surface and knead well until it feels elastic. Return the dough to the bowl, cover and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Return the chilled dough to your floured work surface and roll it into a rectangular shape, around 30cm X 24cm.
Step 4	Separate the remaining butter into 3 portions and then using one third of the butter, dot the butter over the upper two thirds of the rolled dough, keeping a 1cm border around the edges.
Step 5	Fold the dough into three, bringing up the bottom unbuttered part of the dough, and then folding the top buttered part of the dough over. Give the dough a half turn so that the open edges are now top and bottom and seal the edges with your rolling pin. Then take your rolling pin and press the dough at intervals to seal the dough and create air pockets.
Step 6	Roll out into a rectangle again, the same size, and then continue as before, two more times until your butter is used up. After the last rolling when all the butter is used, return the dough to the refrigerator to chill for a further 30 minutes. NB: It is important to return the rolled dough to the fridge in between each rolling to ensure the butter does not melt and the dough does not become too sticky.
Step 7	Remove the dough from fridge and roll carefully into a large rectangle, 30cm x 24cm. Mix the filling ingredients together and spread it over the dough, pressing it into the dough. Starting at the long side, tightly roll up the dough like a Swiss roll. Cut the roll into 12 equal slices, and arrange them into a tree shape on the prepared tray, starting with 1 roll, 2 rolls, 3 rolls, 4 rolls and then ending with the trunk of 2 rolls. *(NB: Optional quick method – using the ready-made puff pastry, follow this step and proceed as below)
Step 8	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until they have puffed up and are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, before gently sliding the “tree” onto a large serving platter or board. Allow to cool completely before decorating.
Step 9	Mix the icing sugar and warm water together to make a thick paste; spread the icing over the rolls before decorating with cherries, silver balls and jellied sweets.

Comments

apply to face blog says

24 November 2016 at 9:28 am

Love all these Xmas recipes and family traditions.It brings family and friends together in the best way.Delicious.x

- Karen Burns-Booth says
  
  30 November 2016 at 10:58 am
  
  Thanks so much for your kind comment! I also love family traditions and try to keep them alive!
  
Johanna GGG says

24 November 2016 at 11:58 am

brilliant – looks so cute – we don’t have cinnamon rolls too often (well sylvia has custard style ones with her dad sometimes) but I really love them and would happily start christmas with some

- Karen Burns-Booth says
  
  30 November 2016 at 11:00 am
  
  Thanks Johanna, I think baking like this needs to be for a special occasion! Karen
  
Dom says

25 November 2016 at 4:27 pm

this is such a beautiful and clever idea and such a brilliant thing for the Christmas table. So lovely!

- Karen Burns-Booth says
  
  30 November 2016 at 11:57 am
  
  Thanks Dom – We all love it here……Karen
  
Kellie@foodtoglow says

26 November 2016 at 3:49 pm

It was great to read how you approach and get ahead for Christmas, Karen. How wonderful that three generations are able to cook together in the kitchen. And those rolls look SO scrumptious!! I enjoyed reading about you in WW too! My turn on the 8th…

- Karen Burns-Booth says
  
  30 November 2016 at 12:31 pm
  
  Thanks Kellie – I’ve not managed to get a copy yet so have not read it! I am so pleased you enjoyed reading about my Christmas traditions and recipe! Karen