Molnar’s rolls out perfect treat at Canfield Fair

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By KALEA HALL

khall@vindy.com

CANFIELD

You can’t start a day at the Canfield Fair without a Molnar’s cinnamon roll. That’s what one customer yelled to me as I was about to take a bite right out of the center of my gooey, cinnamon-sugary, buttery roll.

After finishing that roll, I’d say she’s right.

This year, I decided to learn how one of my favorite fair foods is made.

I called up Faith McGee, a hard-working, second-generation Molnar’s concession-stand operator, to learn the history behind the fair favorite.

McGee’s father, Jim Molnar, started the Austintown-based business back in 1968. He didn’t start with cinnamon rolls, though. He stuck with the fried foods, ice cream novelties and the pickle-on-a-stick treat.

Cinnamon rolls came in 1984.

“He went to the state fair and they were just starting to hit,” McGee said. “It was inevitable it would come out to the [Canfield Fair].”

So, Molnar’s got to working on a recipe of cinnamon, sugar, butter and dough mixed to gooey perfection.

“That first year, we were unorganized, and we had no idea how it would be received,” McGee said.

The rolls were a hit. Lines and lines of people waited for the newest Molnar’s offering.

“We couldn’t keep up,” McGee said.

Today, Molnar’s has four cinnamon roll concession stands at the Canfield Fair. In total, there are 12 Molnar’s stands. Outside of cinnamon rolls, there are five steak-sandwich concession stands, two lemonade stands and one sirloin-tips dinner stand.

A line can often be spotted for the roll stands in both morning and evening.

“They love the goo,” McGee said. “It took us a while to get that goo.”

The “goo” is really just cinnamon, sugar and butter baked down.

Without hesitation, McGee took me and Bob Yosay, Vindicator chief photographer, into a trailer to learn the ropes of making these rolls.

Let’s just say that McGee makes it look easy.

The first step in this process is to make sure the dough is room temperature before rolling it out. Molnar’s uses a frozen dough to keep the taste of the rolls consistent.

McGee quickly rolls out this dough with no problem. She then tosses on lots of cinnamon and sugar. Last comes the butter. She uses an old-fashioned butter cutter to get the butter into intricate squares and places them perfectly in what will become the center of each roll.

Now, it’s time to roll the dough into a long strip and then cut it into 16 rolls.

The rolls are placed in a pan, and then into a proofer they go to raise for one hour.

Once raised, the cinnamon rolls bake for 15 minutes.

Voila, you have your cinnamon roll.

From rolling the rolls on the table to selling them at the window, it takes about an hour and 10 minutes to an hour and a half. On their busiest days, Molnar’s can sell a couple thousand rolls.

“It’s all about time management,” McGee said. “We have to foresee what we are going to do in business.”

Next to the pan of rolls ready to sell are the toppings: vanilla and maple frosting options and warm, gooey pecan topping. The toppings are extra, but they are worth it.

After watching these rolls come to life, I felt my taste buds tingle. I had to get one of these rolls, even if it means I will eat nothing the rest of the day.

McGee did assure me that she bakes all the calories out of her rolls.

I went all in and topped my roll with all of the topping options.

While waiting in line, I talked to two Molnar’s cinnamon roll lovers.

“They are just the best,” Wanda Clay of Canfield said. “They taste so fresh.”

Clay came down with her neighbor Michelle Rod on Friday, and both started out the day with a roll, but Clay assured me she would be back for more.

“It’s a tradition to have them Labor Day morning with coffee,” Clay said.

Before taking a bite of cinnamon roll, I remembered what McGee told me about her customers: Some go right in for the center – the best part – while others work their way in and save the best for last.

I decided to dig right into the center and got a fork full of a small taste of heaven.

It was just what I needed after two days of covering the fair.

By the end of the day I could say: The goo got me through.