Frankenflowers: Cinnamon chrysanthemums

CINNAMON CHRYSANTHEMUMS 

I have been away from this space for a while now. Have had to concentrate on work. Not that I hadn't before; there have just been changes – as many newspaper companies all over the world have been going through lately – and things have been more hectic than usual. Plus my Internet connection at home was down for more than a week because I didn't have time to even call up my provider to see to the problem.

Anyway, I have returned to my wayward oven with a bread roll that I have been meaning to try out for some time. They're made with a sweet dough which I based on a recipe by Peter Reinhart but with changes such as using condensed and evaporated milks – only because I had some sitting in the fridge and couldn't think of what to use them for. The flowers are shaped from 5cm-wide strips of dough. These are dipped into melted butter and cinnamon sugar, and then a deep fringe is cut along the length of the strip before they are rolled up. The "petals" are then splayed out, and left to rise before baking. I saw the instructions here.

I think my chrysanthemums look a little mutated – a Franken version of the flowers. Maybe I should make them for Halloween and call them centispiders or spiderpedes or something else as spooky. Perhaps put in some beady eyes and fangs...