Cinnamon roll with almond filling

For some reason, I feel a lot like baking this month. It is probably the pre-Christmas jitters. I have made cinnamon buns many times before. However, I have never cut the cinnamon rolls lengthwise, except once, but that was many years ago. This time I also added homemade almond paste inside, just because I love almonds. This turned out absolutely divine, if I may say so myself. A cup of warm tea and some slices of a homemade cinnamon roll, is sometimes everything you need to brighten up the humdrum cold winter noons.

Cinnamon roll:
150 g salted butter
50 g compressed yeast
2 cups milk
1.4 kg flour (5 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp cardamom or cardamom powder

Almond filling:
200 g blanched almonds
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup icing sugar
2-3 tbs milk or egg white

Butter filling:
100 g butter
1/2-1 tbs ground cinnamon
3 tbs sugar

Topping:
Almond flakes
Pearl sugar
1 egg (egg wash)

Method:
Blanch the almonds. Bring some water to boil, lower the heat, add the almonds and boil for about 4-5 minutes and then blanch the almonds or alternatively, pour the boiled water in a bowl with almonds and let soak in the warm water for a couple of minutes and then peel the skin off. I would advise you to do this the night before. Let them dry a little and slice the almonds roughly. Slicing them before grinding makes it easier to get a fine paste and keep them in a cool place till needed.

Melt the butter in a cooking pot. Add the milk and warm the butter-milk mixture to 37 C degrees (finger warm). While you melt the butter, measure the flour in a separate bowl and mix in the cardamom. Put aside. Crumble the yeast into a large bowl. Add the heated milk-butter into the bowl, mix and dissolve any large chunks of yeast with your hands. Then add the sugar and then the flour, all at once. Take a wooden spoon and mix until everything comes together into a dough. Place it on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Put it back in the bowl and cover with a cloth and allow the dough to rest (and increase in size) for 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile, grind the sliced almonds in a food processor. If you have a small grinder, grind in small batches. Grind the almonds as finely as you can. In a bowl, add the ground almonds and the sugar. Mix well. Add the milk or egg white. I used milk for the almond paste. Mix well into a paste and put aside. For the butter filling, mix softened butter, sugar and ground cinnamon and put aside. If the butter does not get soft, warm it in the microwave for a few seconds and then mix in the above mentioned ingredients.

Now, divide the dough into three equal parts. Roll it out, like you would a pizza dough, fairly thin, spread some of the butter mixture with a dining knife evenly on the dough. Add the almond paste over the butter filling and spread it as evenly as you can on the dough. Roll the dough up. Take next batch and repeat this process until you have three rolls. Let them rest for another 15 minutes or so. Cut the rolls with a scissor, not all the way down, and in equal sizes and drag the buns left and right with your hand. Whisk an egg. Give the rolls an egg wash, spread some pearls sugar and almond flakes over the cinnamon rolls.

Prepare two oven sheets by placing parchment/bakery paper on them. You can place two cinnamon rolls on one oven sheet.  Place the oven sheet in the middle part (but not on the lowest) of the oven and bake in a preheated oven at 175 C (350 F) for about 15-20 minutes. Let them cool somewhat before serving. You can refrigerate them and serve them on an another occasion, if you like. Let them cool down covered with a cloth on a wire rack, slice them and then put them in plastic bags and refrigerate. Eating them within two to three weeks is preferable.