While the winter months typically signal a dearth of fresh produce, the persimmon stands as a shining, honey-hued beacon of joy amongst the homely root vegetables. Having recently come into the possession of an armful of Fuyus picked from the backyard of my aunt's friend, I wanted to experiment with baking with them. The results of that culinary brainstorm are these pillowy breakfast rolls, whose buttery folds are brought to life by a cinnamon-persimmon compote, chopped hazelnuts and plenty of toffee-like brown sugar. I've garnished the tops of my rolls with classic cream cheese frosting and persimmon chips that are slowly dried in the oven until they resemble the erratic flutter of a petal, because don't we all deserve some flowers in the winter?

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Ingredients

For the cinnamon rolls:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 oz packet of active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp sugar

For filling and assembly:
6 ripe Fuyu persimmons, plus 2 more for garnish (optional)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped hazelnuts
3 Tbsp butter, melted

For the frosting:
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp whole milk
pinch of salt

Directions

To make the dough, warm the milk and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Make sure the milk is lukewarm, not hot, and stir in the yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes to ensure the yeast is alive—you'll know it is if it produces foam on the surface of the milk.

Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer or a mixing bowl. Add the milk mixture and beat to combine. Stir in the beaten egg until combined, then stir in the melted butter until the dough is just comes together in a shaggy mass.

Turn out the dough onto the counter and knead for 8–10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and slightly stretchy.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl covered with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until it doubles in size, about 1.5–2 hours.

While the dough proofs, make the persimmon compote for the filling. Peel and roughly chop the persimmons. Add them to a saucepan with the lemon juice, fresh ginger, water, cinnamon and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally and smashing the persimmons to encourage them to soften and break apart, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and turn it out onto the counter. Roll it out into a 10" x 16" rectangle, keeping the corners as sharp as possible to get nice, even rolls.

Brush the dough with the melted butter, leaving a 1" border at the top. Spread the cooled compote evenly across the dough. Sprinkle with brown sugar and chopped hazelnuts, again making sure to leave a border only at the top.

Roll the dough snugly from bottom to top, finishing with the seam-side down.

Using unflavored dental floss or other thin string, cut the dough into 10 pieces. I like to start by cutting the roll in half first, then dividing each side into 5.

Space the rolls evenly in a lightly greased 9" pie pan, leaving some space between them. Cover lightly with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise again in a warm place until nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. Alternatively, you can place the rolls into the fridge overnight. Just let them sit at room temperature for an hour when you're ready to bake them.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the cinnamon rolls for 25 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

While the rolls bake, make the frosting by mixing together the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, milk and salt.

Drizzle the frosting over the cinnamon rolls while they're still warm. Top with persimmon flowers*, if you like!

*To make the persimmon flowers, thinly slice two Fuyu persimmons and place them on a baking rack inside a sheet pan. Cook at 250° until beautifully shriveled and no longer sticky, 1.5–2 hours.