Makes 16–24 (or 8–12, if halving the amounts)
Preparation / Cooking time: allow 2h 30m (in case the dough is slow to rise)
Advance prep: needs 75g soft butter, so remember to take some out of fridge (also needs cold butter for dough, so don't take it all out!)
The mammal doesn't often bake cakes and buns – apart from small, light scones to pack in the lunchbox – unless it is entertaining guests (so many calories, so little self-control). But every so often it throws caution to the wind and gives it a go. And when you come down to it, buns with sweet fillings are really just bigger scones ... aren't they?
Anyway, the latest effort was actually sparked by noticing a link on the Guardian website to 'How to bake the perfect cinnamon buns': somehow, it seemed a bit more uplifting a topic than the evidence of skulduggery and disaster promised by most of the other articles. This then called to mind an existing recipe for enriched dough that we had made ages before and had worked reasonably well, so it seemed like a good idea to use the filling given in the Guardian recipe with this tried-and-tested dough.
It turned out that the dough recipe was accompanied by suggestions for fillings, including marzipan; this inevitably gave rise to mission creep and the grandiose notion of making one set of cinnamon whirls and one set of marzipan. The result, if less than professional in appearance, was wholly acceptable as far as taste was concerned.
Note 1: it is best to make the cinnamon and / or marzipan filling before the dough, so it is ready to be used once the dough has been kneaded.
Note 2: If you only want to make one set of buns, halve the quantities for the dough.
CINNAMON FILLING
Ingredients
75g butter, softened
50g dark brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
Method
Beat ingredients together until soft and easily spreadable
MARZIPAN
Ingredients
3oz ground almonds*
3oz caster sugar*
2oz icing sugar*
almond essence
1 egg
* As usual, the mammal decreased the sweetness slightly, using 4oz ground almonds and a total of 4oz of the sugars.
Method
Place ground almonds, caster and icing sugar, almond essence, and egg in a bowl and beat with wooden spoon.
ENRICHED BREAD DOUGH
Ingredients
1.5lb flour
1 tsp salt [actually used a heaped half tsp]
3oz butter (chilled)
2oz caster sugar
1 sachet quick (instant) yeast
8fl oz hand-hot milk
3 eggs, beaten
Method
Mix flour and salt together. Rub in butter, add sugar. Stir in yeast.
Gradually add milk.
Add eggs and mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth.
[Note: this might be easier said than done – the dough is very soft indeed, so soft that the mammal chickened out of going straight to the kneading and first mixed it vigorously with a wooden spoon in the bowl until it had reached a manageable state of elasticity. Probably real bakers will faint on reading this.]
When the dough is kneaded, divide into two equal pieces if you have halved the quantities.
Roll the first (or only) piece out on a lightly floured board until it is about 14 by 8 inches (you can vary this a little depending on the size and shape of the rolls you want). Gently spread on the filling with a knife, leaving a margin of about half an inch on the long sides.
Roll up along the long edges, like a Swiss roll. Then cut into equal slices (8 gives fairly hefty buns, 10 or 12 for smaller ones) and set the pieces out on a greased and lightly floured baking sheet / tray on their sides, i.e. with the filling visible.
Repeat with second dough and filling if required.
Cover buns with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm part of the room to prove for an hour or until sufficiently risen (they won't double in size because of the filling, but they should be noticeably bigger). Brush lightly with egg before baking if you like.
Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 and, when it has warmed sufficiently, bake the buns in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes (check after 15m if your oven is on the hot side).
Remove from oven and cool on a wire tray.
If you want to try the dough as per the Guardian recipe, you can find it here:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/may/22/how-to-bake-perfect-cinnamon-buns (the article also discusses various opinions and alternative recipes for making the best cinnamon buns).
The source of the dough recipe given above is lost in the mists of time and transmission, so apologies for failing to credit it.
Preparation / Cooking time: allow 2h 30m (in case the dough is slow to rise)
Advance prep: needs 75g soft butter, so remember to take some out of fridge (also needs cold butter for dough, so don't take it all out!)
The mammal doesn't often bake cakes and buns – apart from small, light scones to pack in the lunchbox – unless it is entertaining guests (so many calories, so little self-control). But every so often it throws caution to the wind and gives it a go. And when you come down to it, buns with sweet fillings are really just bigger scones ... aren't they?
Anyway, the latest effort was actually sparked by noticing a link on the Guardian website to 'How to bake the perfect cinnamon buns': somehow, it seemed a bit more uplifting a topic than the evidence of skulduggery and disaster promised by most of the other articles. This then called to mind an existing recipe for enriched dough that we had made ages before and had worked reasonably well, so it seemed like a good idea to use the filling given in the Guardian recipe with this tried-and-tested dough.
It turned out that the dough recipe was accompanied by suggestions for fillings, including marzipan; this inevitably gave rise to mission creep and the grandiose notion of making one set of cinnamon whirls and one set of marzipan. The result, if less than professional in appearance, was wholly acceptable as far as taste was concerned.
Note 1: it is best to make the cinnamon and / or marzipan filling before the dough, so it is ready to be used once the dough has been kneaded.
Note 2: If you only want to make one set of buns, halve the quantities for the dough.
CINNAMON FILLING
Ingredients
75g butter, softened
50g dark brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
Method
Beat ingredients together until soft and easily spreadable
MARZIPAN
Ingredients
3oz ground almonds*
3oz caster sugar*
2oz icing sugar*
almond essence
1 egg
* As usual, the mammal decreased the sweetness slightly, using 4oz ground almonds and a total of 4oz of the sugars.
Method
Place ground almonds, caster and icing sugar, almond essence, and egg in a bowl and beat with wooden spoon.
ENRICHED BREAD DOUGH
Ingredients
1.5lb flour
1 tsp salt [actually used a heaped half tsp]
3oz butter (chilled)
2oz caster sugar
1 sachet quick (instant) yeast
8fl oz hand-hot milk
3 eggs, beaten
Method
Mix flour and salt together. Rub in butter, add sugar. Stir in yeast.
Gradually add milk.
Add eggs and mix to a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth.
[Note: this might be easier said than done – the dough is very soft indeed, so soft that the mammal chickened out of going straight to the kneading and first mixed it vigorously with a wooden spoon in the bowl until it had reached a manageable state of elasticity. Probably real bakers will faint on reading this.]
When the dough is kneaded, divide into two equal pieces if you have halved the quantities.
Roll the first (or only) piece out on a lightly floured board until it is about 14 by 8 inches (you can vary this a little depending on the size and shape of the rolls you want). Gently spread on the filling with a knife, leaving a margin of about half an inch on the long sides.
Roll up along the long edges, like a Swiss roll. Then cut into equal slices (8 gives fairly hefty buns, 10 or 12 for smaller ones) and set the pieces out on a greased and lightly floured baking sheet / tray on their sides, i.e. with the filling visible.
Repeat with second dough and filling if required.
Cover buns with lightly oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm part of the room to prove for an hour or until sufficiently risen (they won't double in size because of the filling, but they should be noticeably bigger). Brush lightly with egg before baking if you like.
Heat oven to 200°C / 400°F / Gas mark 6 and, when it has warmed sufficiently, bake the buns in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes (check after 15m if your oven is on the hot side).
Remove from oven and cool on a wire tray.
If you want to try the dough as per the Guardian recipe, you can find it here:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/may/22/how-to-bake-perfect-cinnamon-buns (the article also discusses various opinions and alternative recipes for making the best cinnamon buns).
The source of the dough recipe given above is lost in the mists of time and transmission, so apologies for failing to credit it.
