Photo by Jenn Ocken

Configured to resemble flowers in bloom, Strands’ homemade cinnamon rolls are a fresh take on a morning favorite. Pastry chefs and cousins Lilita Blanchard and Linelle Mon, who founded the downtown cafe four years ago, began serving them “to have something of ourselves on the menu,” says Blanchard. The recipe comes from their grandmother and first kitchen mentor. They roll out sheets of homemade dough, coating one side with sugar, cinnamon and fresh butter; then they coil the sheets into tubes and trim each one into links. The links are arranged like mini bouquets, baked until golden and iced with irresistible butter cream. Each roll contains very little sugar and, like all the recipes here, has no preservatives. Strands’ “victory ring” is a cluster of 21 cinnamon rolls. The café serves lunch on weekdays, brunch on Saturday and tea by reservation.

Strands Café
226 Laurel Street
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Tues.-Fri., 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, 8 a.m. to noon
344-5346