Cinnamon scrolls with bacon

Soft, warm cinnamon scrolls with sweet icing are a real treat that can be made even better by adding a little bacon. Canadian bacon is relatively low in fat, which gives it a slightly sweet flavour and makes it perfect for sweet as well as savoury dishes. If that’s too much of a culinary adventure for you, these cinnamon scrolls are also fabulous without bacon!

Makes about 9

For the yeast dough:

10 g (¼ oz) egg yolk

1²/₃ cups (250 g) strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ cup (125 ml) lukewarm milk

1½ tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

10 g (¼ oz) lard

1 pinch salt

21 g (¾ oz) fresh yeast

Seeds of 1 vanilla bean

Grated zest of ½ lemon

For the filling:

80 g (2¾ oz) butter, melted

2 tbsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom

3 tbsp icing (confectioners’) sugar

For the icing:

100 g (3½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar

Also:

100 g (3½ oz) bacon

Transfer all of the yeast dough ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Process with the dough hook of an electric mixer for 6–8 minutes to make a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a ball, cover and leave to rise for 1 hour in the bowl until it has doubled in volume.

For the filling, combine the butter with the cinnamon, cardamom and icing sugar. Butter a springform tin or square baking tin.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to make a rectangle 1 cm (½ inch) thick. Spread evenly with the filling and roll up tightly from one of the long sides. Cut the dough into 5 cm (2 inch) slices and transfer these onto the baking tray, keeping them about 3 cm (1¼ inches) apart. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Transfer the baking tray to the oven. Bake the scrolls for about 17 minutes. Set aside to cool a little.

For the icing, combine 1 tablespoon water with the icing sugar. Add a little more water, if necessary, until the icing has the desired consistency. Drizzle the icing over the warm scrolls. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and fry the bacon until crisp. Dice finely and sprinkle over the scrolls.

TIP This dough also makes great bread for French toast. Simply leave to rise in the bowl as described above, knead again briefly to deflate and then shape into a loaf. Transfer to a loaf tin lined with baking paper and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Bake in the preheated oven at 200 °C (400°F) for 20 minutes.