Ridiculously Good Cinnamon Rolls

There are no words. Cinnabon can pack up and go home.

Dough:

Ingredients

• 250ml warm milk (about 45 degrees)
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 115g of unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 cups self-raising flour (plus some extra for dusting)
• 2 tsp of salt
• 75g sugar
• 7g of dried yeast
• 1tsp of sunflower oil

Filling:

Ingredients

• 225g dark brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 75g of unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 glass of raisins (if they're very dry, soak them in hot water for about 20 minutes)

Icing:

Ingredients

• 100g of cream cheese (I used Quark, but any other soft cheese will do just as well)
• 50g of unslated butter, at room temperature
• 200g of icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
• 1/8 tsp or salt
• Zest of 1 orange

1. Put the milk in a milk pan and bring to a boil on medium heat, stirring it to make sure it doesn't burn. As soon as it starts boiling, take it off the heat.
2. Pour the milk into a large bowl. Add the butter and mix until it's melted.
3. Add sugar and stir until it dissolves.
4. Check that the milk isn't too hot, otherwise it might kill the yeast. (i.e. stick your finger in it. Ideally the clean one.Although that's your call. If it doesn't burn, you're good.). Delicately sprinkle the yeast on top of the milk, and then - again, delicately - fold it into the milk with a spoon. Don't over-mix it. Do it just enough to submerge the yeast.
5. Cover with a damp cloth and leave for 10-20 min. It should be nice and foamy, like so:

6. Add in 4 cups of flour, eggs and salt. Fold in together to roughly combine into uniform-ish goo, and then stick your hands in and start kneading. You'll need to knead it for at least 10 min. Once it's not sticking like an absolute b*tch anymore, you can take it out of the bowl and onto a work surface.

7. Grease the bowl you used to make the dough with a tsp of oil. (I use a paper towel to coat it lightly). Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave for an hour. It should double in size.

8. In the meantime, melt the butter for the filling, and set aside. In a separate bowl, mix the brown sugar and cinnamon.

9. Once the dough has risen, take it out onto a work surface and roll out into a rectangle, roughly 30x40cm, about 1cm thick.

10. Spread the butter evenly on the dough, leaving about an inch butter-free on one end.

11. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon on top through a sieve to avoid larger lumps.

12. Sprinkle the raisins over the sugar evenly.

13. Roll up the dough (using the unbuttered inch to seal it), and cut into 12 slices. Place buns in a lined and greased 23x33cm baking tin.

14. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 160 degrees (fan).
15. Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
16. Beat together cream cheese, 50g of soft butter, icing sugar, orange zest, vanilla essence and salt. Pour the icing over the warm buns.
17. Take a bite while they're still piping hot, burn your mouth and tell yourself it was worth it...