ELISE’S CINNAMON ROLLS, USING BELLE’S BREAD RECIPE

Makes about 24 rolls For the yeast 2 packets of dry active yeast (14g) 2 tsp granulated sugar For the dough 12 cups strong white bread flour 2 cups sugar 1 tsp salt 3 egg-size pieces [150g] of butter, at room temperature Above left Great-grandmother Belle, with daughters including Arabella (Elise Kornahrens’ grandmother) on her knee. Right Elise and her mother, also called Arabella To make the rolls 200g butter, melted 200g caster sugar 2 tbsp ground cinnamon Dissolve the yeast in 16fl oz of lukewarm water, to which 2 tsp sugar has been added, and set aside.

For the dough: in a large bowl put 6 cups of flour and 1 cup of sugar with ½ tsp salt. Mix well and add the remaining flour, sugar and another ½ tsp salt. Mix again thoroughly.

Crumble in the butter, working it into the flour with your fingers. Pour the yeast water into the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Add enough additional warm water to make dough moist enough to handle.

Put on a floured board and knead until the dough is manageable – about 10-15 minutes. Put into a greased bowl, cover with a tea towel and put in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk – about two hours. (This is where I deviate from the original recipe and make rolls rather than loaves.)

When the dough has doubled in size, divide it into two. Take each half and knock the air out of it by briefly kneading. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion out into a rectangle, roughly 45x25cm and about 1cm thick. Spread the warm, melted butter over both of the dough rectangles.

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together until well combined then sprinkle this all over the dough, making sure to reach all the edges.

Starting from a long edge, roll up each portion of dough to make a long, thin roll, then cut each roll into sections about 2.5cm in leng th. Lay these out close together, cut sides facing up, in a baking tin that is either lined with greaseproof paper or buttered and floured. (Half the rolls fit into a 18x25cm rectangular tin – it’s OK if they have a little space to rise.) Leave to rest somewhere warm until doubled in size (around 45 minutes).

Preheat the oven to 150C/gas mark 2 and bake for about 40 or 50 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

These are best eaten at room temperature. A glaze made from milk and icing sugar is nice on top, too.