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The use of cinnamon in baking has been around since the times of ancient Egypt and at first it was so rare and hard to attain that only royalty could afford it or gain access to it. It wasn’t until the Middle Ages in Northern Europe that perhaps the most iconic cinnamon treat came into existence: the cinnamon roll. These days, cinnamon rolls are not hard to come by and almost anyone can afford them, they are ready to buy (and eat) at gas stations and in Cinnabon cafes in malls, they come canned and frozen and, for the few that dare to take the time and effort, there are millions of delicious recipes to make at home. Sweden is the country who takes credit for the original cinnamon roll, in fact, they even have National Cinnamon Roll Day on October 4th every year, but it is the Americans who perfected (or ruined) the treat, depending on which way you look at it.
The traditional Swedish cinnamon roll isn’t actually that sweet and the dough takes over a day to prepare. They are small, have no glaze or frosting and they also use cardamom seasoning as well as cinnamon, giving it a stronger and bolder flavor. The American cinnamon roll is usually very large, super sticky, thus giving them their nickname “sticky bun”, and can be prepared in 9 minutes or less (according to the canned Pillsbury version) or bought ready to eat. There are also hundreds of different versions of cinnamon rolls throughout the United States, including recipes which call for covering the buns in caramel, walnuts, maple syrup or even bacon. Traditional cinnamon roll bakers of Sweden may not even be able to recognize the messy American cousin to their original pastry. Sweden takes its cinnamon rolls very seriously, and created National Cinnamon Roll Day in order to preserve the traditional baking methods and recipes of the cinnamon roll and encourage people to bake their own rolls at home. “We wanted to celebrate home-baking,” Birgit Nilsson Bergström, project manager at the Home Baking Council of Sweden said in an interview about the creation of National Cinnamon Roll Day in a recent article, “So we talked with various bakers, teachers, and just all sorts of ordinary people, and we asked what bread they thought of when they thought of home-baking. And that was it. Our Swedish cinnamon rolls are simpler, more every-day, and yet tastier. They have less fat, less sugar… They’re more plain, but still festive for us, and very Swedish” (Rundquist). This is a beautiful example of a country which has a strong food culture and is working to retain it in a world filled with fast food and globalization. The cinnamon roll is also another perfect example of how the United States does not have a particular food culture and probably never will. For example, the United States does not have a National Apple Pie Day which works to encourage families to bake a pie all on their own at home using traditional recipes. Not only does the United States prepare and eat foods from all over the world while also adapting them to make them their own, they also change them to become fast-paced, easily marketed and cheaply produced all while throwing tradition aside. The average person in the United States does not have time to spend 24 hours making cinnamon roll dough, they want a cinnamon roll now and they want it for 99 cents and at every gas station.
In The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan talks about the detrimental side effects of the United States’ lack of food culture: “So violent a change in a culture’s eating habits is surely the sign of a national eating disorder. Certainly it would never have happened in a culture in possession of deeply rooted traditions surrounding food and eating” (3). So if the United States had a more Swedish approach to its food and cooking, maybe fewer Americans would be dying of obesity and suffering from diabetes and poor nutrition. While getting a massive sticky cinnamon roll is definitely fun and sometimes convenient, that doesn’t mean it is the best choice. Of course, poor cinnamon rolls are not entirely to blame for this nation’s struggle with food, but they are a prime example of a traditional food being stolen from a foreign culture and then blown up into large American portion size and then converted into something incredibly unhealthy for the sake of becoming cheap to produce and able to last on the convenience store shelf for months, if not years. To put this into perspective, the average American cinnamon roll has about 730 calories while the average Swedish one has about 115 (according to Under Armour’s calorie counter).
Author Barbara Kingsolver would agree with Pollan about the detrimental side effects of a cheap and mass-produced sticky bun. She discusses in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that “Households that have lost the soul of cooking from their routines may not know what they are missing: the song of a stir-fry sizzle, the small talk of clinking measuring spoons, the yeasty scent of rising dough, the painting of flavors onto a pizza before it slides into the oven” (130)” Kingsolver suggests that the loss of a national food identity and the unwillingness to take the time to cook or bake the foods which we eat at home isn’t just harmful for our health, it is harmful to our households, our family, and even our souls. She argues that there is something valuable, if not crucial, for a home to cook its own food. Cinnamon rolls are so simple to make and so attractive to most people that they are a prime choice to make at home with your loved ones. Why not take the time and the care to produce a real traditional cinnamon bun instead of relying on a fast food chain like Cinnabon or a giant corporation like Pillsbury?
On that note, here is an easy and tasty recipe for cinnamon rolls which is simple enough to be made by anyone and does not require an entire day in a kitchen. These cinnamon buns will be ready to eat after only three hours and each one has 500 calories, which seems like a compromise between the averages 115 and 730! These cinnamon rolls claim to be the exact clone of the famous American Cinnabon bun, but they can be made at home, which seems like the ideal recipe for an American who loves a fast food style bun but wants to make them themselves and not buy into fast food culture.
- 1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup margarine, melted
- 4 1/2 cups bread flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- 1/3 cup butter, softened
- 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- Add all ingredients to list
- Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
- After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Roll dough into a 16×21-inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture. Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes. While rolls are baking, beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.
Sources
- Kingsolver, Barbara., Hopp, Steven L.,Kingsolver, Camille,Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year Of Food Life. New York : HarperPerennial, 2008. Print.
- Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York: Penguin Press, 2006. Print.
Rundquist, Solveig. “Cinnamon Bun Day: What’s It All About?” The Local. The Local, 04 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 May 2017.