Cinnamon and Apple Pinwheels with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing

, from Issue #85. July, 2019
Photography by Olivia Galletly.
Cinnamon and Apple Pinwheels with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Icing

If you’d like to serve these in the morning, place the dough in the fridge overnight and bring to room temperature before rolling.

INGREDIENTS

Dough
375ml milk
80 grams caster sugar
2¼ teaspoons dried yeast
750 grams high-grade flour, plus extra for kneading
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
190 grams butter, melted
Stewed Apples
5 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm cubes
2 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon Filling
170 grams butter, softened
⅔ cup soft brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Cream Cheese Icing
50 grams butter
125 grams cream cheese, softened
1 cup icing sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
To serve
40 grams walnuts, roasted and finely chopped
You will need...
A large brownie tin, approximately 38cm x 25cm, greased and lined with baking paper

METHOD

Dough: Heat the milk in a small saucepan until warm but not yet simmering. Remove from the heat and mix in the caster sugar and yeast. Set aside for 10-15 minutes until the yeast has activated and foamed on the surface.

In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture, eggs and melted butter to the flour and mix until well combined. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and glossy. Alternatively, dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 10 minutes.

Place the dough in a large bowl, cover and set aside in a warm spot for 1½ hours or until doubled in size.

Stewed apples: Place the apple cubes, sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan over a low heat. Cover the saucepan and cook, stirring regularly, for 10 minutes. Once the apples are soft, remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Cinnamon filling: In a bowl, beat together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. On a floured bench, roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 60cm x 40cm.

Using a palette knife or spatula, smear the cinnamon filling over the dough, making sure to go right to the edges. Top with stewed apple.

Starting from the long edge closest to you, roll the dough into a neat log – like a swiss roll – with the seam edge sitting underneath the log. Cut the log into 12 even pinwheels and neatly arrange in the brownie tin.

Cover loosely with clingfilm. Set aside for 40 minutes, or until risen to almost double their size.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Bake the pinwheels for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Set aside in the tin to cool.

Cream cheese icing: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Continue to cook as the butter begins to splutter. Lower the heat and stir frequently. Remove from pan as soon as butter begins to brown – this will take around 5-7 minutes.

Once the butter has browned, place in a large bowl with the softened cream cheese. Using a hand beater, beat until smooth. Add the icing sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and milk. Beat until pale.

Smear the icing over the cooled pinwheels and top with chopped walnuts to serve. Makes 12 large pinwheels