Sticky Bun MESS!

Mess!

First of all let me say that since I started this blog every recipe I've tried to make has been a mess! I take pictures as I'm making something, so excited to write about my new invention & then...yuck!

One of the shows I love on the Food Network is Throwdown with Bobby Flay. He basically challenges people that are well know for making a particular item really well. I was watching his sticky bun episode a couple of weeks ago & my mouth was watering as I watched his challenger make her sticky buns. Here's the website with her recipe & a picture of the buns. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_37125,00.html
& here is the website for her bakery in Boston: http://www.flourbakery.com/flour_bakery_chef.htm

So with everything you have to do for these sticky buns it was going to take me about 10 HOURS to make them, but they looked so good on the show I decided to try. I got all the ingredients needed after park play day today & when Madeline went down for her nap I was ready to start. I put all the ingredients for the dough (except the butter per the directions) into my mixer & let it fly. The directions said to mix for 10 mins. Well after about 1 minute of mixing the dough started flying out of the top of my Bosch in golf ball size chunks! For the next 4 minutes I kept running around & putting the flying dough back into the mixer (you can imagine the sight). After 5 mins I said forget it I'm adding the butter, maybe that will help. Big mistake! I should have cut my losses then. I added the softened butter & turned the mixer back on. Well all the butter did was create a nice slick environment for the stiff dough to fly around the bowl in! Seconds later the butter started pouring out of the Bosch between the bowl & the lid. I was scraping the butter back into the bowl with my hands fast as it was flowing out (again, you can imagine the picture). I thought maybe it just needs a minute or so. Wrong again! The fiasco never ended. I tried to knead the butter into the dough myself...mess mess mess! I decided to cut my losses & had to throw it all away. So sad. I have a theory about recipes from restaurants. I think the restaurant leaves out a few things, or makes the steps more difficult than they need to be so you have to go eat the food in the restaurant & can't easily make it at home. Not that I'm blaming them, it's their prize recipe. I've had a lot of restaurant recipes turn out, but they were much more simple than this one. I should have known when I looked at the recipe & saw that she has some measurements in cups & some in ounces & other things. I think it's to throw you off a little.

NEVER FEAR! This small hiccup didn't get me down. I decided to go to a tried & true recipe, my cousin Stefani's white bread recipe that also I use for cinnamon rolls. I decided I would make those & just bake them in the goo Joanne Chang bakes her sticky buns in. They turned out great. I think next time I will only use a quarter of the water she puts in her goo (I've adjusted the recipe below to reflect that), because it was a little watery, but once they were baked & cooled they tasted like pecan cinnamon rolls wrapped in a light toffee blanket. Yum! I had some dough that didn't fit into the pans with the goo, so I made my regular cinnamon roll frosting to go on top & they were great too.

If you want to try Joanne Chang's full recipe for the sticky buns, you can click on the Food Network Link above. You might have better luck that me, especially if you've made Brioche before.

If you want a great roll recipe here is my cousins recipe & then after I've added how I made them into the stick buns & after that I put my cinnamon roll topping if you'd rather just try cinnamon rolls.

Right before going into the oven...

Right after coming out of the oven...

Finished product!!

Recipes:

Kerstin's Try, Try & Try Again Sticky Buns! ;)

Stefani's White Bread

Pour:

1 1/2 c boiling water over

1 cube butter

After melted:

Add 1 c sugar

1/4 c yeast - yes you read it right! (I make sure the water has cooled down to a temp that won't kill the yeast before I add it.

1 t salt

5 oz can evaporated milk

4 c flour (start with 4 cups & adjust to a nice not too sticky not too dry bread dough)

Mix or knead together. Let double & punch down. Make into as many loaves, rolls or bread bowls as you want. Let rise again & bake at 350 until golden brown. Continue on if you want to make the sticky buns or cinnamon rolls...

For sticky buns & cinnamon rolls:

1 stick butter

1 1/2 c brown sugar

cinnamon

pecans (optional)

raisins (optional)

2 medium size roasting pans (I got the disposable ones in the grocery store. You can use Pyrex, but you will probably need 4 of them for this recipe.)

Once the dough has risen & you've punched it down, take 1/2 the dough and roll it out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Rub 1/2 stick melted butter all over the rolled out dough. Sprinkle 3/4 c packed brown sugar over the butter. Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the cinnamon (I used pecan's for the sticky buns. I usually don't use anything but the sugar & cinnamon & butter on cinnamon rolls. Sometimes raisins because Matt likes them.) Roll up the dough & cut it in about 1 1/2 - 2 inch sections. Place the sticky buns into your baking dish on top of the goo (recipe below) and bake for about 20 minutes or until a medium dark golden brown (you want to let it get a little darker than normal to make sure the other end in the goo gets fully cooked). Let the pan rest for about 10 minutes before inverting the pan to get the buns out onto waxed paper (my goo was a little too runny, so I flipped each bun out individually & then poured a little of the goo still in the pan onto each roll. Once they're completely cooled you can flip them back over onto your serving pan. They look prettier that way.

If you're doing straight cinnamon rolls then just put the rolled & sliced dough onto a sprayed cookie sheet or whatever pan you're using & bake them for about 15 mins, or until light golden brown. Take them off the pan immediately & cover with as much frosting as you like (recipe follows)

Sticky Bun Goo (I adjusted the original recipe to something that will be more firm. You can go back to the original recipe on the Food Network site if you want to try that):

2 sticks butter

2 lbs brown sugar

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 c honey

1/4 c water

Melt butter and brown sugar together over medium heat in a saucepan. Once melted together & halfway cooled add the other ingredients until well mixed. Pour half into each of the roasting pans (or into fourths depending on what size pans you're using).

Cinnamon Roll Frosting:

1 stick butter melted

1 t cinnamon

1 bag powdered sugar

1/2 c warm milk +

Wisk the cinnamon and powdered sugar into the melted butter. Add milk & wisk. Add more milk if needed until you get to a nice medium thick consistency that will adhere well to the cinnamon roll. Spoon over the hot cinnamon rolls right out of the oven.