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1
In a mixing bowl, stir together 1/4 of the flour with the yeast and sugar. Add the water, butter, cream, vanilla, and lemon zest. Mix until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until smooth. Add the salt and the remaining flour 1 cup at a time, mixing with a dough hook until smooth and stretchy, about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
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2
Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, combine the butter, vanilla, and half of the lemon zest. In another small bowl, combine the sugar with the remaining lemon zest. Set both bowls aside.
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3
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a large rectangle shape about 18x24 inches. Brush the lemon butter on top, and then sprinkle on the lemon sugar.
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4
At this point, you can decide whether you want to roll up the dough in traditional cinnamon roll style, or stack and whack to make 3 pull-apart lemon loaves.
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5
Traditional rolls: Roll up the rectangle of dough starting with a long side. Cut into 24 rolls and place on 2 greased cookie sheets.
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6
Lemon loaves: Cut the rectangle of dough into 6 long strips, each 18x4 inches. Make 2 stacks of 3 strips each. Cut each stack into slices that are roughly 3x4 inches, and stack the pieces with cut edges up (like putting books in a bookshelf) into 3 greased standard size loaf or foil pans.
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7
Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
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8
Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake rolls for 20-25 minutes, or bake loaves for 30-35 minutes. You may want to loosely cover the loaves with foil while baking so they do not get too brown.
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9
In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, cream, and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over warm rolls or loaves.
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10
Recipe adapted from Pull-Apart Lemon Coffee Cake by Reader's Digest.
