Holland America is known for its top-tier culinary demonstrations and classes. I’m not much of a cook myself, but when my sister and I noticed in the daily schedule that there was going to be a cooking demonstration for the ship’s cinnamon rolls, we decided to go. Something deep inside said we’d be getting free samples … and we did!

When I got home, my husband whipped up the rolls from the recipe, which is posted below. They were heavenly, but two words to the wise: First, I would add a bit more cinnamon than the recipe calls for. Second, the recipe says it serves 10. I don’t know if that means 10 people who are going to eat six rolls each or what, but we had so many cinnamon rolls and they were so big, we immediately took half over to our neighbor. Next time we’ll probably half the recipe.

And now for your tasting pleasure:

INGREDIENTS

Dough:

3 oz warm water
2 Tb yeast
2 Tb sugar
5 oz custard pudding
10 oz milk
1 egg
1/2 C melted butter
1/2 Tsp salt
4 1/4 C flour

Filling:

2/3 C butter
2 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C cinnamon

Custard Pudding:
(Note: My husband used store-bought French vanilla pudding in place of making custard pudding and it worked just fine.)

7 oz milk
2/3 C custard mix

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 1/4 C cream cheese softened
1/2 C butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 oz milk

PREPARATION

Custard Pudding Method:

1. Mix all ingredients together for a minute.
2. Let rest for 3 minutes.
3. Mix on medium speed for 4 minutes.

Dough:

1. In a small bowl, combine water, yeast and sugar. Stir until dissolved.
2. Set aside.
3. Mix the pudding, butter, eggs and salt. Mix well.
4. Add the yeast mixture; blend. Gradually add flour and milk and knead until smooth and elastic.
5. Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until double. Punch down and let rise again for 45 minutes.
6. Roll out the dough until 1/4 inch thick.
7. Spread melted butter over the surface.
8. Mix cinnamon and sugar together and spread evenly over surface leaving a 1 inch margin along one of the long edges.
9. Roll up tightly from a long side.
10. Slice and weigh each roll at 7 oz. (Note: Or just guesstimate.)
11. Place on greased baking pan about 2 inches apart.
12. Cover and let rise until double again.
13. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 – 20 minutes.
14. Remove as soon as they turn golden.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Combine all ingredients and mix until smooth. Spread over warm rolls.

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