Orange Yeast Rolls with Candied Ginger
A pillowy-soft orange yeast dough filled with orange curd and candied ginger, topped with orange icing!
Equipment
- 1 Stand mixer with bread hook
- 1 Medium pot
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 9x13 pan Or two 9" round cake pans
Ingredients
Dough
- 57 g Unsalted butter, melted 1/4 cup
- 118 g Whole milk 1/2 cup
- 50 g Granulated sugar 1/4 cup
- 2 ¼ teaspoons Instant yeast 1 packet
- 1 whole Egg large
- 408 g Bread flour 3 cups (All-purpose flour will work, but bread flour is better!)
- 1 whole Zest from one orange About 1/2 tablespoon
- 59 g Freshly squeezed orange juice About 1 large orange (1/4 cup)
Orange Curd
- 236 g Freshly squeezed orange juice 1 cup from about 3-4 large oranges
- 2 whole Eggs Large
- 100 g Granulated sugar 1/2 cup
- 4 teaspoons Orange zest About 3 large oranges
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter Cubed
Filling
- 118 g Heavy cream (for pouring over top) 1/2 cup
- 90 g Candied ginger, diced 1/2 cup
Icing
- 120 g Powdered sugar 1 cup
- 1 ½ Tablespoon Orange juice
- ½ - 1 Tablespoon Milk or heavy cream as needed
Instructions
Orange Curd
- Zest and juice 3-4 large oranges to produce 236g (1 cup) of orange juice. Set zest aside for later.
- In a small-medium saucepan or pot, reduce 1 cup of orange juice down to two tablespoons by cooking over medium-high heat for approximately 15-20 minutes. Try to reduce the mixture down as close to 2 Tbs as you can get! *check out "how to reduce orange juice" above for more details*
- Once your orange juice is reduced, pull the pan off the heat, measure out 2 Tbs of the reduction, set aside, and dump any remaining liquid out of the pot.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, orange reduction, orange zest, and sugar until there are no more streaks of egg. This is very important!!!!
- Return the mixture back to the pot and stir constantly over low-medium heat until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 7-10 minutes. *See picture above*
- Once the mixture has thickened, remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer immediately. Use a rubber spatula to push the curd through the strainer to make sure you get all of it.
- Once strained, cut the butter into 1 inch chunks and add to the curd. Mix with a rubber spatula until the butter has melted. This can take a minute or two.
- Set aside to cool.
Dough
- In a microwave safe bowl, add the milk and butter and microwave 30 - 45 seconds until butter is melted. The milk should be warm, but not hot when you add your yeast. It should feel like warm bath water. If it's too hot, let cool before adding your yeast.
- Once cool enough, add your yeast and sugar. Mix and let sit for about 30 seconds.
- Pour yeast mixture into mixing bowl and add the orange juice and egg. Mix until the egg is well incorporated.
- Add the orange zest and flour and mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 8 minutes until a smooth, sticky dough forms. *check out the pictures above for reference*
- Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a towel and let rise for 45 minutes - 1 hour until doubled in size. (This will be longer if you're using active dry yeast)
Shaping the rolls
- Once risen, dump your dough onto a lightly floured surface and use your hands to pat the dough into a rough rectangle.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle that's approximately 8x14 inches.
- Pour all the orange curd onto the dough and spread into an even layer around the dough, leaving a ½ inch empty border around the dough. Then, sprinkle the chopped up candied ginger evenly around the dough.
- Starting at the end closest to you, roll the dough tightly so that you end with a 14 inch log.
- Once you have rolled the dough, gently wet your fingertips and pinch the horizontal (longest) seam of the dough together to create a seal. It doesn't have to be perfect, but this will help prevent losing some filling. Do not seal the ends of the log, just the front seam!
- Using a serrated knife, cut the dough into 12 even pieces if using a 9x13 pan. If you are using two 9 inch round pans, cut the dough into 10 so you can have 5 rolls per pan.
- Evenly space your rolls into your baking dish. You do not need to grease the dish.
- Cover the dish lightly with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise for about 30 minutes.
- About 10 minutes into the second rise, preheat your oven to 350F. If you wish to make these overnight, cover the dish after the second rise and place in the fridge overnight. Set out at room temperature the next day while the oven is preheating.
- When the rolls have risen, they should be almost touching each other and have almost doubled in size. *See pictures above*
- At this point, pour 1/2 cup of heavy cream over the rolls and bake them for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops are just barely golden brown. Do not bake past this point!
- Let the rolls cool for about 15 minutes while you make the icing.
Icing
- To a medium bowl, add orange juice, powdered sugar, and ½ tablespoon of milk or heavy cream.
- Whisk until there are no more lumps of powdered sugar.
- If the icing is too thick, add more milk ½ teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar ½ Tablespoon at a time.
- Pour icing over rolls while they are still warm.