Strawberry Lime-ade Sweet Rolls

Part of my new years resolutions repertoire is to make interesting flavor combination of sweet rolls. I have only managed to do one recipe this month.

I'm pregnant... and lately, I don't feel like baking much. It's difficult to get those creative juices flowing and I just want comfort food. You would think that sweet rolls would be at the top of my list for comfort food.... but it's not.

I've been craving a lot of sub sandwiches, hummus, Mexican food and stuff like that... and ice cream, and milk shakes. I had bought a can of strawberry pie filling for my strawberry milkshakes - and I had a bit left over - I used it in these sweet rolls.

I will say that they were good, but they didn't hit the spot like I had hoped. I should try them again in the future when I'm not preggers. I may add zest to the glaze next time.

Dough: basic mix with zest from one lime
Filling: strawberry pie filling and a mix of strawberry  jam
Glaze: simple made with juice from 1/2 lime and powdered sugar

In a large bowl or in a bread maker combine ingredients as follows:
1/2 cup luke warm water
1 medium egg
40ml vegetable oil
zest from one lime
2 cups BASIC/HOT ROLL MIX
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
Stir well to make a soft and not too sticky dough. Knead. Let rise till doubled. Punch down. Rest. Roll out into rectangle. Spread with 1/3 - 1/2 cup strawberry pie/jam filling. Roll up and cut into 8 equal slices. Place into prepared pie tin. Rise again in warm place. Bake 15-20 minutes at 175C degrees. Prepare sweet glaze. and brush or drizzle on while rolls are still warm. Makes 8 rolls.

Glaze: In a small bowl, combine juice from 1/2 lime with enough powdered sugar to make a not too thick frosting. At least 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar.

Seriously Sublime Sweet Rolls - Trial 1

So the tart and tangy Lemony-Lime Sweet Rolls turned out so well that I decided to make a lime version. I call them "Seriously Sublime." In trial 1 of these delicious rolls, I've even added a variation - that is to add frozen blueberries into the roll. But alas, as with other tests - we sometimes discover that "less is more." My husband and I both agree that although we like the blueberries - we love the Seriously Sublime roll with nothing but lime the best. I'm thinking it could even have been more lime-ish. So next time in trial 2, I will attempt to make the filling even more tart - with more lime juice than ever before.

The Dough:

8 Tablespoons oil (sunflower), divided
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon active-dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar, divided
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large egg white
2 heapen Tablespoons freshly grated lime zest
1 cup milk (sour, butter, plain, soy, rice - your choice)
4 1/4 cups flour (plus a bit extra, if needed)

Oil large glass bowl with 1 Tablespoon oil. In a small bowl activitate yeast with warm water and 1 teaspoon of the sugar, set aside to bubble a few minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine remaining oil, sugar, salt, egg, lime zest and milk. Blend together. Add in yeast mixture and flour 1/2 cup at a time - continue to mix until all flour is in bowl. Knead a few times and add a bit extra flour, if needed, to make a soft, elastic, not too sticky ball of dough. Put in oiled bowl, and turn to oil top. Cover with plastic wrap and put in warm place until doubled in size - about 1 to 2 hours. Meanwhile, make lime filling and glaze. Take risen dough out of bowl and punch down. Roll out into a large rectangle - about 1-2 centimeters thick. Take 1/3 of the Lime Filling and spread over the rectangle. [If using blueberries or other berry - add them now]. Starting at one end, roll up into a jelly-roll. Cut into 14-18 slices. Place on prepared baking sheets. (I usually prepare my sheets with baking paper - easier for clean up). Then drizzle another 1/3 of the Lime Filling among the rolls. Allow to rise again in warm place for 30-60 minutes. Then bake in oven 20-25 minutes until golden at 175-C degrees. Remove from oven and drizzle Lime Glaze over top. Cool before eating... if you can wait that long. Lick your fingers or serve with napkins - sticky - gooey - so yummy!!!

Lime Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 tsp lime peel, grated

Juice of two small limes

1 Tablespoon butter or margarine

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in small saucepan. Gradually add water and whisk until well blended. Whisk in egg yolks, lime zest and lime juice. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until thick and bubbly. Boil one minute; remove from heat. Stir in butter. Cool to room temperature without stirring.

Lime Glaze:

1/3 of the Lime filling, 2 heaping teaspoons lime zest, plus about 125g powdered sugar - mix together to a smooth glaze.

[Now in my trial 2 experiment, I shall use more lime juice and less water... I have to in order to call it Serious!]

Lemony-Lime Sweet Rolls- Trial 1

These have past two tests. The first being that after 2 days - they still taste fresh and tastey (just a few seconds in the microwave and whalaa!). The second being the taste testers like them...

A few days before I attempted these, I made some 4th of July Inspired - red, white and blue rolls - that turned out not good. A failure for me. But a good failure because I learned from it. What I learned - same as with applying makeup - less is more!  So, I decided to make more sweet rolls but this time I made myself limit what I put in it. I decided I was going to make lemon sweet rolls - and even though I was tempted to add this and that - I limited myself to only one other ingredient and that was a bit of lime zest. So, I'm calling them Lemony-Lime Sweet Rolls.

These turned out fabulous - tart and sweet and very lemony. The taste was great - and already in trial 2 - the only thing that will change is the preparation method because the lemon filling was a bit much and it was difficult to roll up the dough and cut them into slices. So, in trial 2, I will use about 1/3 of the lemon filling for the inside, and then still plop 1/3 filling on top of rolled up rolls and then use the remaining 1/3 filling for the glaze.

Luckily, I'm going to a surprise birthday party in 2 weeks so I have another excuse to bake :) yippee!
Here is the recipe with (trial 2) suggestions for preparations.

The Dough:

8 Tablespoons oil (sunflower), divided
1/4 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon active-dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar, divided
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
2 heapen Tablespoons freshly grated lime zest
1 cup milk (sour, butter, plain, soy, rice - your choice)
4 1/4 cups flour (plus a bit extra, if needed)

Oil large glass bowl with 1 Tablespoon oil. In a small bowl activitate yeast with warm water and 1 teaspoon of the sugar, set aside to bubble a few minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine remaining oil, sugar, salt, egg, lime zest and milk. Blend together. Add in yeast mixture and flour 1/2 cup at a time - continue to mix until all flour is in bowl. Knead a few times and add a bit extra flour, if needed, to make a soft, elastic, not too sticky ball of dough. Put in oiled bowl, and turn to oil top. Cover with plastic wrap and put in warm place until doubled in size - about 1 to 2 hours. Meanwhile, make lemon filling and glaze. Take risen dough out of bowl and punch down. Roll out into a large rectangle - about 1-2 centimeters thick. Take 1/3 of the Lemon filling and spread over the rectangle. Starting at one end, roll up into a jelly-roll. Cut into 14-18 slices. Place on prepared baking sheets. (I usually prepare my sheets with baking paper - easier for clean up). Then place another 1/3 of the lemon filling divided among the rolls - just smooth over with a spoon or brush on top. Allow to rise again in warm place for 30-60 minutes. Then bake in oven 20-25 minutes until golden at 175-C degrees. Remove from oven and drizzle glaze over top. Cool before eating... if you can wait that long. Lick your fingers or serve with napkins - sticky - gooey - so yummy!!!

Lemon filling (from Wilton.com):

3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold water
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 tsp lemon peel, grated
Juice of medium lemon
1 Tablespoon butter or margarine

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in small saucepan. Gradually add water and whisk until well blended. Whisk in egg yolks, lemon peel and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat whisking constantly until thick and bubbly. Boil one minute; remove from heat. Stir in butter. Cool to room temperature without stirring.

Glaze:

1/3 of the Lemon filling, 2 heaping teaspoons lime zest, plus about 125g powdered sugar - mix together to a smooth glaze.