Dried Fruit and Cinnamon Scrolls

Cook Time 1 hour and 15 minutes (+ rising time)

Servings 8

Ingredients

1½ cups (375ml) warm milk
1 tbsp caster sugar
3 tsp instant yeast
½ tsp salt
4 cups (600g plain flour)
1 free-range egg, lightly beaten
80g butter, melted
⅓ cup (70g) brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp ground cinnamon, + extra, to sprinkle, if desired
3 tbsp dried apricots, finely chopped
3 tbsp sultanas
3 tbsp dried figs, finely chopped
50g macadamias, finely chopped (or nuts of your choice)
½ cup (125ml) golden or maple syrup

Method

Combine milk, sugar and yeast in a large jug. Set aside for 5 to 10 minutes or until frothy.

Combine salt and flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour milk mixture and egg into the well. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Using floured hands, form a ball and place in a large lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes – 1 hour or until dough doubles in size.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease a 24cm springform cake tin with a little of the melted butter and line the base with baking paper.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Use a rolling pin to make a 30-40cm rectangle. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle ⅓ of this sugar mixture over dough. Fold one short side of dough over ⅔ of filling. Fold remaining ⅓ over the top to enclose filling. Roll dough out to a 30 x 40cm rectangle again; repeat filling and folding process twice more until remaining butter and sugar is used.

Re-roll dough into a 30 x 40cm rectangle. Combine the melted butter with apricots, sultanas, figs, and macadamias in a small bowl. Scatter about 1 tbsp this mixture over the dough and drizzle with a little golden or maple syrup. Fold the dough over itself, roll out again and repeat this process until all of the dried fruit mixture has been incorporated into the dough. Only use half of the golden syrup – reserve the rest for later.

Roll up dough into a log shape from a long side to enclose filling. Cut log crosswise into 8 portions, trimming the ends to make them even. Arrange, cut-side up, in the prepared tin. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 10 minutes to rise.

Drizzle over remaining golden syrup. Bake in oven for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 180°C. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and cooked through, covering the top with foil if over-browning. Set aside for 20 minutes then turn onto a wire rack. Brush a little more golden syrup and serve.