AT LAST - I have thrown away the bathers, summer is well and truly behind us ... the lazy days of eating freshly caught fish from the sea, sipping chilled rose while watching the kids wrestle with sharks will have to wait for another year... but more importantly, we can all forget the hideous idea of squeezing ourselves in and out of that teeny weeny itsy bitsy bit of clothing, we can cover ourselves up in massive coats and jumpers and FEAST on anything we desire - and no one will ever know what is lurking beneath - there has to be some advantage living here surely?
So, with that in mind, I made these delicious hot sticky, incredibly bad for you creations (and actually missed out on a mystery date because of them... but that's a whole nother story). I made them for Rachel's Macmillan coffee morning last Friday, which by the time I had arrived at 8.30am , she had already gathered a cool 2 grand - brilliant. I made a rather tasty coffee and walnut cake too, so shall put that one up later if it tickles the taste buds..
Anyway, I am delighted to be back writing my blog, I have missed it, and have sooo many recipes from the summer to share and loads more in my head to get us through the lead up to the C word... plus Hugo gets back from his travels on Thursday before he leaves to Uni on Sunday - so the banquets shall begin...
One last quick note - a few local excitements ... The Ginger Pig Butcher has just opened on Abbeville Road _ I have been in there at least 8 times already, and if my hair colour was any different, then there would be a picture of me on the window...
Plus.. and far more importantly - CHECK OUT THE VERY VERY HOT NEW BARISTA AT LE BOULANGER (Abbeville Road) I mean, seriously, how much coffee can a girl drink...
Definitely hot buns that would compete with these!
CINNAMON PECAN STICKY BUNS
DOUGH
450g strong white strong flour
50g caster sugar
85g butter, cut into small pieces
7g sachet dried yeast
2 eggs, beaten
150ml full-fat milk
Olive oil (just for greasing tin)
FILLING
2 tsp ground cinnamon
85g light brown sugar
100g pecans
TOPPING
125g melted butter, plus a little extra
150ml maple syrup
75g light brown sugar
100g pecans
Place the flour, sugar and 1tsp salt in a mixing bowl, and rub the pieces of butter together until it is like breadcrumbs. Pop in the yeast and beaten eggs, and then pour in the milk, and mix until you get a soft dough. You might need to add a little more milk (I did). If you have a food mixer, throw it all in there, and attach a dough hook and then you can leave it for about 7-8 minutes, but if you don't, it's a little more of a bore, and you have to knead it for about 15 or so minutes until the dough is smooth, soft and springy. Put it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film (or tea towel) and leave to rise in a warmish place for about an hour (or go to a party, forget about it for a while, and deal with it after a few glasses of wine)... Anyway, make sure it's at least doubled in size before you resume play.
Make filling, by placing the cinnamon, sugar and pecans in a food whizzer until the nuts are finely ground. Punch down the dough to knock out the air and then split it in two. Roll and stretch out two rectangles (about 30 x 40 cm each).
Melt the butter (for the topping), brush over each rectangle, then sprinkle half the filling nutty mixture over each half and press it deeply into the dough - use a rolling pin to roll it over just so it's not loose on the top. Tightly roll each rectangle (from the long side) to a long sausage shape - then pinch the ends together to seal them. Cut each sausage into about 10 pieces (you can actually freeze these at this stage for up to a month)..
Cue instagram photo...
Now, brush two or three baking trays, (depending how vast your oven is), with melted butter. Mix the maple syrup and sugar into the remaining butter and then pour this over the bottom of each baking tray (at this point I think I had had a few glasses - so I was just pouring huge amounts of sloppy sticky stuff everywhere I could see). Swirl the mixture around the bottom of the trays so it is all covered, and then sprinkle with the pecans. Put the rolls on the tray, with at least a 2cm gap between each, ready for expansion of the buns (something that will happen to you after you've scoffed the lot), Cover with clingfilm again, and leave in a warm place for about another 30 minutes (patience!).
Heat oven to 180 degrees, take the cling film off and bake for around 30 mins until the buns are lightly browned and feel firm... serve warm with the sticky side up .....
YUM!!
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