Cinnamon Roll Christmas Tree

In a saucepan set over high heat, bring the milk to a simmer. Remove from heat and add the sugar, salt and melted butter. Stir and remove from heat. Leave it until it is lukewarm.

In a large bowl, add the yeast to the warm water. Stir and leave it for just a few minutes. When the milk has cooled enough, pour it into the yeast mixture along with 1/2 of the flour and the beaten egg. Stir to combine until you have a smooth batter. Mix in the rest of the flour. You should have a slightly sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and start to knead it. Do this until the dough becomes quite elastic and bounces back when pressed. Probably about 8 minutes or so. Put the dough back in the large bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Put the dough in a warm place to rise. It will be ready in about one or 1 1/2 hours.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out into a large rectangle. Mine was probably about 10 x 16 inches. Drizzle over the brown sugar mixture and spread it out over the dough. Roll it up and cut it into 12 slices.

Grease and line with parchment paper a large baking tray. Arrange your rolls in the shape of a Christmas tree. Starting at the top with one in the middle, then two underneath, then three, then four and finally two on the bottom in a vertical line for the trunk. You will see this in an image below. Cover them again and return them to a warm space to rise. About another hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the buns for about 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for about 10 minutes.

Mix together the powered sugar, milk and vanilla. Drizzle all over the rolls. Top each roll with half of a maraschino cherry.

Best served warm.