Lars made these typical Roman breakfast rolls as a surprise for Ilaria one morning, and everyone agreed that he should surprise the household like this more often.
Whisk together to make a “sponge”:
45 g flour
225 ml milk, warmed to about blood temperature
20 g yeast
25 g sugar
Cover and let the yeast work until it’s nice and bubbly – perhaps 20 minutes or so. Meanwhile, soak in hot water:
35 g raisins
After the raisins are plump (about 10 minutes), remove them from the water and squeeze them dry. Set aside.
Separate and beat together a few egg yolks, then measure out 35 g of the beaten yolks, which you’ll use in the next step.
Add to the sponge:
375 g flour
15 g gluten
5 g salt
30 g sugar
50 g butter
35 g egg yolks
Knead together until smooth and elastic; add liquid or flour as needed to adjust. Once you’ve got a good dough, stretch it out into a rough square and add:
Plumped raisins
35 g pinoli (pine nuts)
35 g candied orange peel
5 g lemon zest
Fold over and knead together. Put in a clean bowl and cover until it’s doubled in bulk.
Gently deflate the dough form it into a ball. Let it rest for 10 minutes, then divide into 10 pieces, about 85 g apiece.
Form the pieces into balls and let rest for another 10 minutes. Then take each and flatten it, with the rougher side up, and then roll into a cylinder, pinching the seam shut and the ends to a point, and place seam-side down on a lined baking sheet.
Put in a warm place and let them double in bulk again. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 200.
Bake until nicely browned on top, about 15 minutes. While they bake, boil together:
50 g sugar
50 ml water
When the rolls are baked, remove them from the oven and brush them with the simple syrup. Put them on a wire rack and let them cool completely.
Whip to stiff peaks:
500-1000 ml cream
Split each roll lengthwise and fill with cream. Smooth with a palette knife and sprinkle with powdered sugar for a traditional presentation.
Serve with hot Italian coffee.