Strawberry Rolls with Orange Frosting

Hey guys!! First recipe I’m posting which is kind of a big deal! This is one of my favorites, a Kenzie classic if you will, and I won’t lie to you. If you do it right, it’s kind of a labor of love. But it’s so incredibly worth it. These strawberry rolls (with a homemade strawberry jam if you’re feeling fancy) fresh out of the oven are a brunch game changer (or the perfect thing to surprise your coworkers with when you get the urge to bake at 3 pm)

Let’s get into the ingredients first. I’m gonna break these down into three separate categories, because there are three separate components to this recipe. That being said, the homemade jam is a totally extra step I like to take because I’m totally extra like that.

THE JAM

• 3.5-4 cups of fresh strawberries

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

• 2 Tbsp. Lemon juice

THE DOUGH

• 2 1/2 cups bread flour

• 1/2 tsp. Salt

• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla

• 2 tsp. Yeast

• 3 Tbsp. Sugar

• 4 Tbsp. Unsalted butter

• 1 large room temperature egg

• 3/4 cup + 1 Tbsp. Milk

THE FROSTING

• 1 cup cream cheese

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tsp. Lemon juice

• 1.5 tsp. Orange juice

• 1 tsp. Lemon zest

• 1 tsp. Orange zest

It’s time to put everything together, starting with the jam. You could also totally start with the dough, but I like to let the jam cool in the fridge to a nice consistency before I put it on the dough.

MAKING THE JAM

1. Start by putting a glass plate in the freezer (I’ll explain later)

2. Wash, hull and chop the berries into small little chunks.

3. Throw the berries, lemon juice and sugar into a pot

4. Cook on low heat to dissolve the sugar

5. STIR CONSISTENTLY (you don’t want to just let the sugar burn)

6. When the sugar is dissolved, bring it up to a boil on medium high. Keep stirring until this happens

7. When the mixture is bubbling, slow the heat to a simmer

8. The mixture needs to sit at this simmer for at least 20-25 minutes.

9. Skim the foam off the top of the mixture

10. Mash the berries up

11. It’s time for the glass plate test. Pull your plate out of the freezer and put a little bit of the jam on the plate. Tilt the plate at an angle and if the jelly runs off the plate it’s not ready. If it kind of glides and sticks to the plate, then you’re good to take it off the heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.

MAKING THE DOUGH

1. Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl

2. Heat the milk on the stove over medium heat

3. Remove from the heat, add softened butter and whisk. Let this mixture cool slightly, until about 115 degrees

4. Pour the milk/butter into the dry ingredients and add the egg and vanilla

5. Mix!

6. If the dough is super sticky, add flour

7. Cover the bowl with a towel on the counter for 5-6 minutes

8. Flour your counter and oil your hands

9. Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. Your arms should hurt and your dough should be SMOOTH, SOFT, GLOSSY AND ELASTIC

10. Transfer your kneaded dough to a well oiled bowl

11. Grease the top of the dough with oil

12. Cover in plastic wrap and let it rise for an hour and a half or until doubled in size. If you’re mega impatient like me, turn on your oven for two minutes, turn it off and pop the dough in there. Check it every 15 minutes.

ASSEMBLING THE ROLLS

1. Grease a 9x9 pan and line with parchment paper

2. Punch the center of the dough and flip the dough out onto a floured surface (your counter)

3. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin (or if you’re balling on a budget and have a bottle of wine in the fridge, that’ll work too) The dough should roll out to about 11”x14”ish

4. Spread your jam across the dough leaving an inch border around all sides (so it doesn’t overflow when we roll it up)

5. Carefully roll the dough into a log shape, starting from the long side

6. Press the seam of the dough and seal the edges of it with water gently.

7. Using a sharp knife or unflavored wax dental floss, cut the log into 9 pieces

8. Place in the baking dish and cover with plastic. Let this rise for 30-40 minutes until puffy

9. After rising, drizzle with a teeny tiny bit of warm milk or cream (not a whole lot please, do not drown the dough)

10. BAKE! At 345 for 20-30 minutes or until a perfect golden brown. Check frequently after the 20 minute mark you dont want to burn these bad boys

11. Let the rolls cool for at least 5 minutes

MAKING THE FROSTING

1. Whisk room temp cream cheese, powdered sugar, juice and zest until smooth and fluffy

2. Final step guys….Go ahead and put the frosting on the rolls and ENJOY

For my last contribution to this post, I will be sharing a link to a Spotify playlist of songs that make me think of this recipe. Please enjoy at your convenience, and if you ever decide to try this recipe, please let me know how it goes.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7yWndT1tUAldJIewOJfF5V