Cinnamon rolls. One of the greatest, if not the very best bakery treat. The soft dough with sweet spices filling that as you uncurl as you break the spiral apart, all topped with a decadent cream cheese frosting. Mmm. Only the inclusion of raisins (like a Chelsea-Cinnamon bun) would make it better. I haven't had an IKEA trip for a while, so my freezer is sadly devoid of their wonderful Kannelbular, but my dismay might've been solved on a recent trip to Tesco. There, sat amongst the scones was a bag of Pågen Gifflar mini cinnamon rolls. At just over £1 for 12 buns there was no question -they were mine.
"Pågen Gifflar™ Cinnamon is deliciously baked, and has a wonderfully tasty filling. With coffee, at picnic, with friends, or just for yourself when you're in the mood for something sweet! Simple and tasty! With Pågen Gifflar™ Cinnamon you're always in good company!"
The Gifflar are produced in Sweden too, which helped me feel like I was getting even more of a bargain. After all, the Swedes are known for their cinnamon buns.
The dough had a brioche-like shine to it, and although they were still fairly soft, they weren't fluffy like just baked versions.
I made the mistake of attempting on at ambient temperature. The dough didn't taste very fresh, which ruined the flavours of the roll. Let's try it microwaved for 15 seconds as per the packet's instructions.
Hmm. Still not great. The dough tasted no different to a standard savoury dough and lacks the characteristically soft centre of a fresh baked bun. The filling also lacked the rich buttery flavour that I loved so much. Yes the cinnamon was there, but without the sugar it tasted harsh. Of course there's no frosting to these buns, and yes I missed that too.
These Pågen Gifflar left me feeling sad and hard done by. I'm sure there's plenty of you that'll disagree with my views on these cinnamon rolls (there certainly was a lot of love for them on my Instagram post) but for me they just don't hit the spot. Tesco's fresh cinnamon rolls and IKEA's Kanelbullar still reign, but I think a trip to LIDL's bakery might change that..!
Where do you buy your cinnamon buns from in the U.K? Leave me a comment on here, twitter or Instagram and let me know!
3/10
I went to IKEA looking for the Kanelbullar ones (because of your recommendation) but they didn't have any so I got the gifflar ones. I thought they were really dry and bland, and so I ended up binning the bag after my first one.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it's not just me who was disappointed with these. I'm sorry you couldn't get gold of the frozen ones though! I must make another IKEA trip soon..
DeleteCinnabon are the best by far but only available in London as far as I know. Like you I hated the gifflar ones on first bite but still finished the bag. Even though they're dry they're still kinda moreish
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean! I'll definitely have to visit Cinnabon when I'm next in London!
DeleteI think of them more like a bread snack? Not in the same league as Cinnabon etc - just an everyday biscuit alternative. Like having a Digestive or Malted Milk instead of a muffin.
ReplyDeleteHmmm.. I could demolish a pack of digestives. I could easily think of them as the rich teas of cinnamon buns though!
Deletethere's a chain in London called Nordic Bakery who do nice buns :-) bit more rustic than cinnabon
ReplyDeleteThanks D!
DeleteYou probably already know this, but the Ikea collection centre in Brum city centre has a café and some groceries. Including your frozen ones!
ReplyDeleteI did NOT know this. I'm going to have to look for it now though! Thanks Gráinne x
ReplyDelete