Tangzhong meets sourdough.
Then meets a food processor.
Then meets a mock cream cheese frosting.
Then… basically transforms my entire kitchen rhythm.

Welcome to the evolution of TESDA:
Tangzhong-Enriched Sourdough Dough Approach, powered by one batch of flour roux and used in five strategic ways — all designed to give you soft, flavorful, not-too-sweet cinnamon rolls with maximum joy and minimum dishes.

🔄 The Big Idea: Make Roux Once, Use It 5 Times

Let’s start with the heart of it — the batch-cooked Tangzhong roux. If you’ve ever made glue as a kid, congrats: you already get it.

This pudding-like flour paste locks in moisture, builds softness, and extends freshness. But best of all? It lets you reduce sugar, increase digestibility, and streamline your baking prep.

🧊 Batch Tangzhong Roux

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water or milk (16 oz / 450g)

• ¾ cup all-purpose flour (90g)

Instructions:

1. Whisk together in a skillet or saucepan.

2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and pudding-like.

3. Let cool with a lid on to prevent a skin.

4. Spoon into ice cube trays (~1 tbsp per cube), freeze, then transfer to a labeled bag.

💡 Make the roux separately in an electric skillet (my favorite method).
It cooks and cools evenly, and if you put the lid on while it’s cooling, it doesn’t skin over.

Now you’ve got pre-measured hydration and texture boosters ready to drop into starter, dough, filling, glaze, and more.

🍥 Five Delicious Uses of Your Roux

1. Starter Feedings (Skip the Mess)

You can feed your sourdough starter with just the roux cubes — no need to measure flour or water separately.
It’s neat, tidy, and consistent.

💡 I got my starter by posting on social media. Someone in my town had extra and dropped some off the next day!

Once you have a starter, just keep feeding it with thawed roux and stirring it down daily.
Yes — your starter can live on roux-only feedings, as long as it’s balanced (1:4 or 1:5 flour-to-water ratio) and stays bubbly and active. Keep an eye on it and adjust as needed.

2. The Dough (TESDA Style)

Use 2–3 roux cubes in your dough for:

• Soft, enriched texture

• Easy shaping

• Long shelf life

• Less mess

🧠 The sourdough fermentation is what helps reduce glycemic impact — breaking down starches, slowing sugar absorption, and making these cinnamon rolls easier on your system.

3. Cinnamon Filling Binder

Melt 1 cube of roux with butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. It becomes:

• Smooth and spreadable

• Not runny

• No sugar leaking out during baking

4. Pudding Bath (Sticky Bottom Layer)

Scale up here:

• Use about 1 cup of roux

• Add milk or water to make it pourable

• Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon

Pour this warm (not hot!) into the bottom of your baking dish before placing in your shaped rolls.
It becomes a sticky, caramel-like base that soaks up into the rolls as they rise and bake.

🔥 Too hot will kill your yeast — aim for bathwater-warm.

5. Icing Stabilizer (No Powdered Sugar Needed!)

Here’s a secret:
When you blend roux with granulated sugar, it dissolves beautifully — no gritty texture, and you don’t need powdered sugar at all.

Even better? The roux takes up space that sugar would usually fill — so your icing ends up light and creamy, not tooth-achingly sweet.

🧁 No-Dairy “Cream Cheese” Icing (Mock Version)

Cream cheese doesn’t love me back, so I make this instead.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp Tangzhong roux (melted)

• 1 tbsp dairy-free butter or neutral oil

• 1–2 tsp apple cider vinegar (for cultured tang)

• ½ tsp vanilla

• ½ cup granulated sugar

• Pinch salt

Instructions:
Blend everything in your food processor until silky smooth.
Spread on warm rolls and enjoy the tangy, creamy magic — without the dairy.

💥 One Last Hack: TESDA Without the Sink Full of Regret

I HATE doing dishes.

So here’s how I outsmart the cleanup:

Use your food processor in this order:

1. Icing

2. Filling

3. Dough

4. (Optional: pourable pudding bath if using processor instead of pan)

Icing comes first because it’s the only uncooked part. Everything else gets baked — no need to clean in between.

This is how I make cinnamon rolls that feel like magic — not like a second shift at the sink.

Final Thoughts

One roux. Five strategic uses.
Less sugar, more softness.
Fewer dishes, more joy.
And a cinnamon roll experience that actually feels good to eat.

Let me know if you'd like:

• A printable version of this post with the full master recipe

• A freezer label cheat sheet for your roux cubes

• Or a social media caption to announce this to your followers

TESDA is more than a recipe — it’s a system that makes baking better, easier, and honestly more fun. 💛