Crown of Pinwheels

The Crown of Pinwheels is a leavened bread that can be filled in various ways, sweet or savory, depending on taste. Here I will present you with a recipe for a savory pinwheel crown, stuffed with cooked ham and cheese, but you can customize the filling as you like.

Ingredients

• 500 g of type 00 soft wheat flour
• 250 ml of warm milk
• 50 g of sugar
• 1 egg + 1 yolk for brushing
• 60 g of soft butter
• 25 g of fresh yeast
• 10 g of salt
• 200 g of cooked ham slices
• 200 g of stringy cheese (such as mozzarella or provolone)

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk with the sugar.
2. Add the egg and mix well.
3. Incorporate the flour and salt, then start kneading until everything is well combined.
4. Add the soft butter, cut into pieces, and continue to knead until you get a smooth and elastic dough.
5. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it has doubled in volume.
6. After the rising, roll out the dough into a rectangle on a lightly floured surface.
7. Evenly distribute the slices of cooked ham and the stringy cheese over the rectangle.
8. Roll up the dough on the long side to form a cylinder.
9. Cut the cylinder into pinwheels about 2 cm thick.
10. Arrange the pinwheels in a circle, touching each other, on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, forming a crown.
11. Let rise again for 30 minutes.
12. Brush the surface of the pinwheels with beaten egg yolk for shine.
13. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for about 25-30 minutes, or until the crown of pinwheels is golden.
14. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before serving.

This crown is great for a buffet or an original snack. You can experiment with other types of cold cuts, such as mortadella or salami, and with different cheeses to find the combination you prefer. Bon appétit!