I was going to sit and write a wonderful post about spiced rolls and cold Autumn days, but I had to go to the dentist this morning to have a tooth fixed and we discovered a cavity in a molar so now I have to go back again, and I don’t feel like writing about …well, about much at all.

I’m not great with doctors of any sort, I feel ill just because I set foot on a doctor’s office. It is stupid, I know, and what will we do without doctors and dentists anyway? Most of them are also lovely people and so patient and kind!

Well, my mother is a dentist herself, so needless to say I have nothing against them. But finding that extra cavity, somehow depressed me. I know it is silly, it is fixable and all, but still, I feel sad. Do you think there is such a thing as Post Dentist Stress Disorder? Probably I’m just a bit of a wimp 🙂

So, here is the Pumpkin rolls recipe. They were soft and had a lovely orangey colour. Also, while baking the house smelled like sweet cinnamon and nutmeg which is always a plus.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

300 grs. plain flour

100 grs pumpkin pure

1 egg

30 grs. melted butter

50 ml warm milk

40 ml maple syrup (or 30 grs demerara sugar, and add a bit more milk).

2 teaspoons instant yeast.

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence.

For the filling:

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped.

How to:

1.- In a bowl mix the flour, salt, spices and if using, sugar.

2.- In a smaller bowl dissolve the yeast in the warm milk and let it stand until frothy.

3.- Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the pumpkin pure, yeast and the egg. If you are using maple syrup add it now.

4.- Use a cornet to make the ingredients into a soft dough. I used canned pumpkin pure and it seems to have less liquid than home-made pumpkin pure, which I used to make this rolls before. If you use home-made pumpkin pure, therefore, your dough might turn out a bit more wet. If this is so, add a bit more flour.

5.- Knead the dough for about 5 minutes and then place back in the bowl, cover with film or a plastic bag and place it in a warm spot until double in size.

6.- After double in size, roll the dough out in a floured surface. Try to roll it as thin as possible, about 1/2 cm thick. I didn’t roll it thin enough and you’ll see my rolls don’t have the distinctive swirls that most rolls have.

Paint with the melted butter, distribute the sugar and cinnamon evenly and then spread the nuts over.

7.- Roll the dough tightly and use a sharp knife to cut 3 cm thick portions:

8.- Place the rolls on a buttered and floured tray and let them rise, covered, for 40 minutes:

9.- Bake the rolls for 25 minutes at 190 C.

10.- Let them cool in a rack and enjoy!!

11.- You can glaze them with a simple glaze made out of 1/2 cup icing sugar and 1 tablespoon orange juice.

Namaste,

Paula