Sweet rolls cake

School is over. For the most part. What now remains is a long summer holiday, and the practical side of studying, the internship. The last few weeks flew by with some of the highlights detailed here. I am now in the process of preparing for yet another transition in life.

I attended gelato university for a day of proper ice cream education that left me with an over dose of, well, how should I put it, not the best of ice creams. Must have been all the stabilizers and combination of flavors that I would probably never bother to order.

I suspect that my own private research into good gelato across Italy, as well as the home made experiments have yielded ice cream that any industrial version would find hard to beat.

Its been 6 days since my last ice cream. And counting.

Then there was Bottura.

Massimo Bottura, Chef of Osteria La Francescana in Modena, rated 13th best in world, whatever that means.

Bottura came in for a day with a sous chef, and prepared 2 dishes from his repertoire, cooking what he calls ‘’food with a memory’’; Emilia Romana traditional cuisine with a contemporary twist that challenges the concept of locally found ingredients and the fixation with how they should be cooked, drenched in poetics.

Like the dish of Parmesan cheese prepared in 5 different ways, to a variety of textures and forms or the pleasant surprise of a melanzane alla Parmigiana merged with Thai soup, Tm Kha. An eggplant, basil, Stracciatella, lemongrass and smoked chillies never know how much they had in common.

The last dinner, the farewell party, the dinner of all dinners was the unintentional yet surprisingly themed ‘mostly vegetarian Mediterranean buffet’. It exemplified a Grande finale fit for a food themed year, it was good for us, good for the environment and good for the animals that got to see another day. The scarcity of meat was hardly noticed with an abundant table featuring multiple types of focaccia, breads, empanadas, salads of sorts, dips, and cakes.

The non Jewish cousins of Kneidlach, the knödel made an appearance. I don’t think many Jews are aware of this cousin’s existence. Must be the black sheep of the family. I prefer to think of them as atheist knodels.

Unlike the matzoh based Kneidlach, the Knodels are made with bread or pretzels and can be mixed with different herbs and vegetables, and meats such as sausage, bacon, liver or beef. There is also a sweet version with sugar, honey and cinnamon served with cooked fruit. They Knodels are amphibian creatures, and can also be served outside a broth.

This is truly a life changing revelation, and a symbolic one at this point in my life.

I am turning a page.

sweet yeast pastry rolls cake

The best thing about this cake is that it requires no slicing. The rolls can simply be pulled out of the cake.

Ingredients

Sweet yeast pastry(follow this recipe)

spread of your choice ( I used 100g chopped dark chocolate and Halva & Hazelnut spread)

For the glazing
1 1/2 cups Sugar

2/3 cups Water

prepare the dough.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into two. Roll out and flatten one half of the dough to a rectangle.
Wrap and refrigerate the remaining half, as this dough is easier to manipulate when cold.
Spread half of the filling on the dough rectangle. Cut into long and narrow strips. Roll each strip (not too tight), and place in a tray in a circular pattern.
Leave to proof until double in size.
Bake for 12 minutes.
Repeat with the remaining dough.

Once the cake has cooled prepare the sugar glazing by bringing the sugar and water to a boil. Glaze using a brush.
This is best eaten on the day of baking but will keep for several days in an airtight container, or cover with foil and freeze until ready to have with coffee.