Swirls with custard and raisins

Swirls with custard and raisins are a soft and delicious leavened dessert, which is well suited for both snacks and breakfast. Here’s the recipe to make them:

Ingredients

• 500 g of 00 flour
• 120 g of sugar
• 120 ml of warm milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 sachet of dry yeast or 15 g of fresh yeast
• 80 g of soft butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 200 g of custard cream
• 100 g of raisins
• Icing sugar for decoration

Before starting with the recipe, soak the raisins in warm water or, if you prefer, in a liquor to flavor them.

Preparation

1. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with a teaspoon of sugar taken from the total amount and let it rest for a few minutes until the yeast starts to bubble on the surface.
2. In a large bowl, pour the sifted flour and make a well in the center where you will add the eggs, the remaining sugar, the soft butter, the grated lemon zest, and the pinch of salt.
3. Add the milk with yeast and start kneading until you get a smooth and homogenous dough.
4. Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place away from drafts for about 2 hours or until it doubles in volume.
5. After the rising, roll out the dough on a floured surface giving it a rectangular shape.
6. Spread the custard cream over it and distribute the well-squeezed raisins evenly.
7. Roll up the dough on itself starting from the long side to form a roll.
8. Cut the roll into slices about 2 cm thick and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving some space between each one.
9. Let them rise again for about 30 minutes, then bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 20 minutes or until golden.
10. Remove from the oven and let the swirls cool on a wire rack. Once cool, dust them with icing sugar.

Curiosity

Swirls are an Italian version of the famous cinnamon roll, but in an even richer version thanks to the addition of custard cream and raisins. In some Italian variations, grated orange zest is also added to give a citrus touch.