2 eggs
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose or bread flour
Lightly beat the eggs: add butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Cream together until well blended. Stir in 1/2 of the flour, mixing well. Add the starter and the rest of the flour, stirring to form a stiff dough. Turn out on floured surface and knead for just a few minutes. Place in a large, well-oiled bowl and turn dough to lightly oil the surface. Cover, place in a warm, draft-free spot to let rise until doubled in size.
Filling: 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 cup rum-soaked raisins (drained)
In a small bowl, mix together sugars and cinnamon. Roll out the dough on a floured surface until about 1/2 inch thick. Brush with melted butter leaving a one inch strip along on edge unbuttered. (This is to seal the dough once rolled.) Sprinkle with the sugar mixture and dot with the raisins. Starting at one end of dough (opposite of unbuttered end), roll up until reaching unbuttered edge. Slightly moisten the edge with water and seal the roll closed. With a sharp knife, slice the roll in to 2 inch thick slices. Place these slices cut side down in a well greased 12x12 inch pan. Drizzle the tops with any left over melted butter and let rise until doubled in size. This can take up to 8 hours depending on the temperature. Set the pans in a cool oven, turn oven on to 350 degrees and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until puffy and golden. (Do not preheat oven.) Let cool for a few minutes and glaze.
Glaze: 1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
juice of one lemon
finely grated peel of one lemon
Mix together all glaze ingredients adding more sugar if needed to make a glaze that will easily drip from the spoon. Drizzle over the warm rolls and serve.
Note: I rolled my dough and did not cut it into 2 inch pieces. I left it in loaf form and just baked it for ten minutes longer. After baking, I sliced it and then drizzled it with the glaze. It worked just as well.
To begin with, let me say that I have been making sourdough bread for quite some time. My "starter" is named "Ham" and has served me extremely well, always producing the most tasty treats. Anyone that deals with sourdough knows that you have to feed your starter on a regular basis to keep it active. Monday evening, I fed Ham and left it on the kitchen table so it could do its thing. Big mistake! Tuesday morning, I awoke to an overactive sourdough! It had risen to the top of the gallon jug and spilled down the sides covering a huge part of the table! Sourdough starter everywhere, happily bubbling as if rejoicing at its escape. Or perhaps this sourdough was evilly plotting to take over the world one table at a time starting with mine. Either way, I had a gigantic mess! After a serious cleanup, I mixed up a batch of cinnamon/raisin bread dough to start a slow rise on the back of the stove. This particular recipe calls for one rising before making in to the loaves and then a slow, overnight rise in loaf form. This morning at 6Am, I popped it in the oven and a wonderful aroma filled the kitchen. The incident of the morning before was now forgotten and Ham was forgiven!