There is something about cinnamon which just screams Autumn at me, maybe it's because there are so many Christmas recipes which include the lovely spice that is cinnamon. But I don't quite want to think that it's nearly Christmas just yet, or else it will be the new year before we know it!!
I fancied making this cinnamon bun recipe from the Hummingbird bakery book - Home Sweet Home:
These cinnamon buns are also known as sticky buns in the South and it's not hard to see why with the sweet sticky icing drizzled over! Just make sure you eat them when fresh and warm (preferably for breakfast! yummm! Possibly the best start to the day you could ever have.)
It's quite an easy recipe really, just make a sweet enriched dough, leave it rise, roll out, sprinkle over the cinnamon sugary goodness and then roll up. I love how the cinnamon rolls make a nice round shape of continuous swirls when they are all tightly packed together in their tin, and then drizzled generously with an abundance of white glace icing.
The best bit of all though has got to be the fun of tearing them all apart!! Don't be afraid of placing the buns too close together in their tin, just pack as many as you can into your biggest loose-bottomed round cake tin. The recipe tells said to use a 10 inch tin but I only had a 9 inch so if you have a couple of extra buns that you can't put in, then just place them into another small round tin like I did.
I changed the recipe a bit because I didn't want to make the cream cheese glaze that you melt over the buns, so instead I just made my own glace icing which I have included in my adaption of the recipe
below. I was also quite cautious, mainly due to the memories from 'advanced dough week' on the Great British Bake Off - and the dangers of beaten egg as a glaze!! Ahhh....will it or won't it be cooked inside?! So due to this worry of the beady eyes from Mr Hollywood haunting me like he did to poor Martha I decided on a brushed milk glaze instead. I changed the baking times stated in the recipe too, (I know what your thinking...and yes I do fiddle around with recipes alot! I just can't help myself) as I felt that 10-15 minutes is definitely not enough time to bake the buns.
I was right y'know, they were still raw after 10 minutes and we don't want that do we?
Ingredients (Makes 16-18 buns):
For the dough:
300ml (10½ fl oz) lukewarm whole milk
25g (1oz) caster sugar
1 ½ tsp dried active yeast
500g (1lb 2oz) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
85g (3oz) unsalted butter, cubed
For the filling:
80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
80g (3oz) soft dark brown sugar
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp milk for glazing
For the icing glaze:
100g icing sugar
and enough water to mix to a drizzling consistency.
In a jug, mix together the lukewarm milk, caster sugar and yeast. Sir well and then set aside until it becomes frothy - this takes approximately 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add the butter cubes and rub into the dry ingredients to form a crumb-like consistency with no large lumps of butter. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and yeast. Using a spoon, bring the mixture together to form a soft, wet dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes or about 6 minutes with a dough hook in a mixer. Place the dough back into a large, lightly floured mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for approximately 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen, knock it back in the bowl and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it gently to get the dough smooth and then roll out into a rough rectangle, about 1.5cm thick.
Gently spread the soft butter evenly over the dough. In a small bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the dough. Roll the dough up length-ways like a swiss roll. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 16-18 slices.
Line the cake tin with baking parchment, and very gently place the slices, flattest side down , into the tin, arranging them snugly. Wrap the tin with cling film and then allow the dough to rise again for approximately 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas mark 4. When the cinnamon rolls have risen again, gently brush the tops of the dough with milk. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly then mix up the glace icing by simply adding enough water to the icing sugar to form a glaze. Drizzle over the top of the buns whilst still warm in the tin. Enjoy!
80g (3oz) unsalted butter, softened
80g (3oz) soft dark brown sugar
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp milk for glazing
For the icing glaze:
100g icing sugar
and enough water to mix to a drizzling consistency.
Method
In a jug, mix together the lukewarm milk, caster sugar and yeast. Sir well and then set aside until it becomes frothy - this takes approximately 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Add the butter cubes and rub into the dry ingredients to form a crumb-like consistency with no large lumps of butter. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and yeast. Using a spoon, bring the mixture together to form a soft, wet dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes or about 6 minutes with a dough hook in a mixer. Place the dough back into a large, lightly floured mixing bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place to rise for approximately 40 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen, knock it back in the bowl and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead it gently to get the dough smooth and then roll out into a rough rectangle, about 1.5cm thick.
Gently spread the soft butter evenly over the dough. In a small bowl mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the dough. Roll the dough up length-ways like a swiss roll. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 16-18 slices.
Line the cake tin with baking parchment, and very gently place the slices, flattest side down , into the tin, arranging them snugly. Wrap the tin with cling film and then allow the dough to rise again for approximately 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas mark 4. When the cinnamon rolls have risen again, gently brush the tops of the dough with milk. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool slightly then mix up the glace icing by simply adding enough water to the icing sugar to form a glaze. Drizzle over the top of the buns whilst still warm in the tin. Enjoy!
I found that these needed a longer baking time than the book said too. I also found them very salty, I could taste the salt more than the cinnamon! Next time, I’m halving the salt and adding cinnamon to the dough
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