Mallorcas (Puerto Rican Sweet Bread)

Melt the first amount of butter in a small saucepan over low heat then remove from heat and let it cool slightly.

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water. Add sugar, salt, egg yolks, milk, 4 tablespoons of the melted butter, and the flour. Mix well. Lightly flour a work surface and knead dough for 3 minutes. Keep the surface lightly floured so the dough does not stick.

Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let it rest in a warm and draft-free area for 45 minutes. Punch dough, knead on a lightly floured surface and roll out into a 9 x 18 rectangle. With an offset spatula, combine remaining melted butter with 2 tablespoons of the softened butter and spread onto the dough rectangle.

In a small bowl combine dark brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom then spread this across the butter. Cut dough into 7 even strips and roll the strips of dough from end to end into the classic cinnamon roll snail shape. Cut the remaining tablespoon of softened butter into little pieces and scatter over the bottom of a parchment paper lined 9×13 pan, along with the nuts. Place cinnamon rolls into the pan, cut side down. Cover with a clean tea towel and let it rise for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove pan from oven. Immediately turn the pan upside down onto a serving platter. Remove the parchment. That way the butter and nut mixture on the bottom now becomes the top.

Recipe is adapted from Yvonne Ortiz’s book, Taste of Puerto Rico.