Pain au Cinnamon

By Shivani

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons instant dried yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 3 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup vanilla crème patisserie
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• vanilla crème patisserie
• 1 1/4 cups whole milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation

Step 1

How to make pain au cinnamon:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water for 5 minutes. Add the bread flour, milk, sugar, melted butter, and salt to the dissolved yeast and water and mix the dough on medium speed for about 2 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add 1 tablespoon of extra flour at a time, until the dough is just firm enough to fold a shape.

Shape dough into a ball and loosely cover it with plastic wrap. Allow it to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Roll the dough into a 10-inch by 15-inch rectangle, and then cover it loosely and allow it to rise for 40 minutes.

Brush the rectangle with the softened butter and then fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. Roll the long, thin rectangle back into the original 10-inch by 15 shape. Fold the dough into thirds, again, and then cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Repeat this process one more time.

Roll the dough into a 10-inch by 30-inch rectangle and spread the vanilla crème patisserie across the surface of the rectangle. Stir 1 tablespoon sugar and the cinnamon together and sprinkle the mixture over the raisins and pastry cream.

Roll the dough into a log and cut it crosswise into 18 slices. Arrange each slice on a lightly greased baking sheet with at least 2 inches between each pastry. Cover them loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for 1 hour to 90 minutes, until they are nearly doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Whisk the egg and 2 tablespoons milk together to make an egg wash. Brush the egg wash across the surface of each pastry. Bake the pains au cinnamon for 14 to 16 minutes, until they are puffed and golden brown.

This pain au cinnamon, or cinnamon roll, recipe makes 18 servings.

How to Make vanilla crème patisserie
In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, flour, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth.

Once the milk is steaming, add half of it, whisking constantly, to the egg mixture. Add the milk and eggs back into the hot milk, continue stirring, and heat it for 1-2 minutes, until the custard reaches 170F on a digital thermometer and is very thick. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and chill before filling pastry.