I love the smell of cinnamon rolls. They’re so evocative, and they look so delectable - with that delicate frosting falling down the sides of the cinnamon-flecked pastry! Yum.
If you’ve ever been to IKEA, you know that the closer you get to the bakery, the more you smell that familiar smell. Part of their (genius) marketing is to constantly cook cinnamon rolls, so that while you’re waiting in line to pay, you are seduced and must have an IKEA cinnamon roll. Well, you get what you pay for.
The last time I tried one of these discount desserts, I realized that a good cinnamon roll is hard to find. We’ve all become used to the ones sold at the donut places. If they’re fresh, they’re alright; otherwise, they are sad little rolls sitting lifeless on the trays waiting to be picked up by someone desperate to buy a donut.
Cinnabon is good, but too gooey. I feel like I am eating cinnamon flavored cookie dough with one of those. They’re heavy and dripping and after you eat one, you feel like a soaked brick is in your stomach.
So, where are the good cinnamon rolls? I’m not sure around here, but I do know that in Austin, TX, at Russell’s Bakery, you can buy the best cinnamon roll you will ever have. It’s flaky and cinnamon-y and is not covered in goop - though you can request a side of real cream cheese frosting. I skip it, because I am impatient when I have one of these babies. I want to peel and eat every layer as quickly as a I can!
I contacted Russells Bakery to see if they ship, and they do, but only around Austin. I was disappointed, but determinded to make my own since I could not get Russells’ rolls here.
What I learned after making every kind of croissant dough/pastry dough imaginable, is that Russells cinnamon rolls are impossible to recreate. I am not sure what they are, to be honest. They’re not classically shapped cinnamon rolls. They’re not classically shaped schnecken rolls, either. They look like muffins but have thousands of buttery layers in each one that is perfectly balanced with sugar and cinnamon.
Robert and I made authentic French flakey pastry also called ‘puff pastry’, and it took us more than 24 hours. We turned the dough, we incorporated ice cold bits of non-salted French butter, we rolled and rolled and rolled. We even splurged at Penzeys and bought the best Vietnamese cinnamon available. Nothing worked, and you know, even if it did work, I don’t think I’m ready to put that much elbow grease into a cinnamon roll.
THAT’S why we eat the imitations – that’s all that’s out there, mostly.
If you get the chance to stop in Austin and grab one of Russells Bakery cinnamon rolls, please do. You’ll feel my pain.
Schnecken – it looks close, but it’s not flakey enough!
*Hat tip to Russell’s Bakery for the first photo