Giovanni's grandmother's torta di rose recipe - a very rich bread.
Mix 500 grams of flour, 100 grams of castor sugar, 3 eggs, 80 mls of milk, 10 grams of fresh yeast (dissolved in the milk), some vanilla essence or one pod in a bowl.
Work into a smooth dough then add 100 grams of butter, a quarter at a time, kneading each time (you can do all this in a mixer of course). Once the dough no longer smudges the butter around, leave in a bowl to rise until doubled in size (depending on the season, couple of hours +).
Oh, I forget: the butter needs to be room temperature, soft but not heated up in the microwave
Phase 2, once the dough has risen: make a cream of butter with 100 grams of caster sugar and 100 grams of soft butter. Use an electric beater. Move your dough to a lightly floured surfaced and roll into a large rectangle. I want to say 60x35-40 cms.
Spread the cream over the entire surface, then roll tightly along the long side of the rectangle. You'll end up with a long snake. Cut it in half, then in half again, then in half again, then in half again. Kids, that's 16 little rolls.
Place them in a buttered cake tin. Preferably bigger than the one I used, 28 cms should be good if round. Leave some space between each roll, so they have room to grow. Leave for another couple of hours or so, until they have doubled in size.
Cook at 170°C (no fan) for 20-30 minutes, till golden brown.
(Except to say: obviously you don't cut it, you pull it apart. Each roll is a portion.)
