Friday, August 14, 2009

Tone's Cinnamon Roll Competition

Yesterday was the big day- the Tone's Cinnamon Rolls competition at the Iowa State Fair! I've been perfecting my cinnamon rolls for months and was excited to enter...especially with the $3,000 grand prize! My morning started at 4:00am. I got up and immediately started baking. After burning my initial batch (figures...I was too concerned about having perfect tops and forgot about the bottoms) I quickly made a second that turned out just fine. Brian and I hopped into the car and headed to the state fairgrounds in Des Moines.

Here I am frosting the rolls and attaching my entry tags right before entering the fairgrounds. Then we scurried to the Elwell Family Food Center where the competition was to be held at 3:00pm.After meeting Aunt Jean (who was so patient with Brian and me...we were very late arriving), I checked in my cinnamon rolls. I was pretty nervous.
There were 167 entries into the competition....that's a lot of competition!

Thanks to Aunt Jean, Brian, and my co-worker Deb (who also came to see the competition) I had a great seat to watch the judging. As you can imagine, it was standing room only. Here's one of the judges sampling my rolls for the first time. She looked like she enjoyed them and mouthed the words "good texture" and "my favorite so far." I was pretty excited. Unfortunately, I didn't place. The judges do make comments, which will be mailed to me at a later date. That's okay, though. We had a great time and competing was a lot of fun. I still think my cinnamon rolls are kicker. For anyone who is interested, here's a photo of the grand champion.Also, here's my recipe. Enjoy! As for me, I'm pretty sick of making cinnamon rolls, but I've started thinking about what I might want to make next year...

Hope’s 2009 State Fair Cinnamon Rolls

Prep Time: 4 Hours
Serves: 12

Filling
1 ½ C light brown sugar
3 Tbls ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt

Rolls
(2) .25 oz pkts active dry yeast
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 C 110 degree milk
1 C warm milk
2/3 C granulated sugar
2/3 C melted butter
2 tsp salt
3 eggs (slightly beaten)
½ C cornstarch
7-8 C flour
½ C softened butter
½ C melted butter

Frosting
1 pkt (8 oz) cream cheese
½ C softened butter
1 C powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
½ tsp salt

Rolls
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. When oven reaches temperature, turn off.
In small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in 110 degree milk; set aside
In large bowl, mix together warm milk, 2/3 C sugar, 2/3 C melted butter, 2 tsp salt, and eggs; add yeast mixture and stir until combined.
In separate bowl, combine 4 C flour and cornstarch; add to yeast mixture and beat until smooth with electric mixer; using bread attachment for electric mixer, stir in enough remaining flour to form a slightly stiff dough.
Turn dough out onto well-floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.
Place dough into large greased bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Place in warm oven and allow dough to rise until double in size (1- 1 ½ hours).
Punch down dough and let rest for 5 minutes.
In small bowl combine brown sugar, cinnamon, and ½ tsp salt.
Roll dough out onto floured surface into a 15” x 20” rectangle.
Spread ½ cup softened butter over dough; sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over dough.
Tightly roll up dough and pinch edges together to seal; cut the roll into 12 slices using dental floss or thread.
Coat the bottom of a 13” x 9” x 2” baking pan (or two smaller pans) with ½ C melted butter. (Glass pans work best.)
Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the prepared pan; cover pan with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
Remove plastic wrap and replace with aluminum foil right before baking.
Bake rolls in a 350 degree over for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove foil with 10-15 minutes of bake time left.

Frosting:
Beat cream cheese and butter with electric mixer until smooth. Add confectionery sugar and vanilla; beat until light and creamy. Spread over cinnamon rolls when rolls are still slightly warm.

12 comments:

laura said...

bummer! sounds like a fun day though... maybe if you are not too sick of making them they can make an appearance out in OR. :P

katharhino said...

Aw, I'm sorry they didn't win. Thanks for sharing the recipe though! I'm definitely going to try it! :-D

Hope said...

Hey Laura, that's not a bad idea. :) Cornstarch makes a world of difference, Katharine. You'll be surprised!

Mom and Dad said...

Hope:
Wait til next year! Sorry you didn't win. I really like Laura's idea about cinnamon rolls in Oregon. Sounds like a great day.

Don

Mom and Dad said...

Hope:
Wait til next year! Sorry you didn't win. I really like Laura's idea about cinnamon rolls in Oregon. Sounds like a great day.

Don

Ryan + Louise said...

Hope, you are SO AWESOME. I would never even have thought of entering cinnamon rolls in the fair. I think it's brilliant and I can't wait to try your recipe!! Way to embrace Iowa. Brian, you're a lucky guy. You also must be sick of cinnamon rolls....

Ryan + Louise said...

And by the way, how do I get to be a cinnamon roll judge? Also, did anyone show up with the Pillsbury ones? You wonder...

jenrust said...

I second Laura's suggestion... I hear cinnamon rolls taste really good at the beach.

Sorry you didn't win. I like how you described the process of entering!

Jason said...

Yeah. what they said about the cinnamon rolls in Oregon bit. You are guaranteed a win.

Crystal said...

I always remember your cinnamon rolls and think about them often. They are hands down the best cinnamon rolls I have ever had! Keep trying, you are bound to win next year.

Unknown said...

oh, you made me a little misty-eyed with the butter cow. there's always a butter cow at the MO fair too. memories....

Mer said...

We used to have walking tacos at camp (or talking walkos if we were feeling cute)..good memory! Love your photo journalism and I'm sure after 167 rolls they weren't even recognizing the awesome anymore. Clearly.