Cinnamon Buns
We've gone from flip flops to flippers here in Amsterdam which is lousy. From finding excuses to get out the house to finding excuses not to leave. I spent most of the day on Monday entertaining my three month old, binge watching old episodes of The Great British Bake Off and drinking luke warm tea (because it is nigh on impossible to drink a hot cup of anything when you have a small child. They hear the kettle boil, the clink of the teaspoon on the china and they will no longer sleep or sit quietly. They demand to be fed or held until your drink is tepid. FACT.)
Yesterday was much nicer and I took the wee man out for a walk round Jordaan to clear out the cobwebs.
I get a bit wistful watching the GBBO and like to think of my own little introduction or what would be my signature bake each week. Would the baking gods smile fondly on me and save me from soggy bottoms and Paul's dreaded comments *engages Scouse accent* "it's over worked" or "it's under proved". Having worked in a kitchen means I'm immediately disqualified. Boo. I think it is a little unfair as I still learn new tricks and techniques everyday. Since rebooting my blog each time I choose a recipe I cook it at least 2-3 times before it goes up. I tweak it and change things around to try and get the best result. So I suppose I have my own one woman GBBO. My judge is my husband. No Scouse accent and fewer in words. I know I've got star baker when the plate empties quickly and he's asking for more.
I've always loved a Cinnamon Bun. A pillowy enriched dough, rolled out, covered in butter, sugar and cinnamon and then rolled up and sliced into individual buns. After they are baked to golden perfection they're then iced either with a simple drizzle of icing or smothered in a cream cheese frosting. I prefer the icing drizzle myself as I find the cream cheese frosting a little much.
In the UK we don't really have quite the same obsession with these sweet swirled buns as in Scandinavia their undoubted origin, where they are 'Kanelsnegl' or 'Kanelbulle' or the US, who have Cinnabon, a whole franchise devoted to these sweet treats.
The UK is perhaps more familiar with the cinnamon danish which is more of an all butter laminated pastry than a bread. Still undeniably delicious.
One of the easiest places to get hold of a Cinnamon Bun is Starbucks but, seeing as I'm not actually made of money, these are a rare treat. Back in the UK Greggs also did a decent bun but since moving to Holland I haven't been able to get my fix but I just discovered there is a Cinnabon here in Amsterdam out by the Arena!! I will have to find an excuse to head out there soon!
Still my craving for Cinnamon Buns hit and so I have endeavoured to create my own recipe. In my research many of the recipes I found were in US cups so it was a case of breaking them down and converting them to grams and then tweaking them until it was something I was happy with. The recipe below is the culmination of these efforts. They don't contain raisins or sultanas which you occasionally see but for me these are more of a confusion between a Cinnamon Bun and their French cousin the Pain au Raisin. They do contain a little bit of cardamom which is truer to their Scandinavian roots.
CINNAMON BUNS
Makes 12
Ingredients
Rolls
500g Strong White Flour (plus extra for dusting)
1/4 tsp Salt
10g Yeast
250ml Whole Milk
50g Unsalted Butter
55g Caster Sugar
1 Large Egg, beaten
Filling
50g Caster Sugar
50g Light Brown Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter, softened
1 tbsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Cardamom
Icing
100g Icing Sugar
1 tbsp Whole Milk
- Combine the milk, sugar and butter in a jug and microwave for around 1-1 1/2 minute on full power to dissolve the sugar. Set to one side. You do not want this mixture to be hot when you add it to the rest of the ingredients for the rolls as you will kill the yeast.
- Put the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment. Put the salt on one side and the yeast on the other. You do not want the salt to touch the yeast at this point as it will kill it and your rolls will not rise.
- On a low speed add the milk mixture and beaten egg to the flour. Turn the speed up to medium and beat for 5 minutes. The dough will be quite wet and sticky but don't be alarmed this is just how you want it.
- Lightly flour your work surface and using a dough scraper tip the dough out and work it for 2-3 minutes until it forms a smooth ball that bounces back quickly when prodded.
- Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
- For the filling place all the ingredients in a bowl and beat together so they are well combined.
- Turn your dough out on to a lightly floured work surface and roll out to a rectangle approximately 48 x 35 cm.
- Dot about 9 spoonfuls of the filling mixture over the dough and spread out evenly over the surface spreading it all the way up to the edges.
- Roll the dough tightly, along the long edge to create a 48 cm long sausage. Cut into 12 equal pieces (approx 4cm). TIP: I find using a serrated knife works best for this as it doesn't compress the dough and squash the layers.
- Place your rolls into a buttered oven proof tray or dish/dishes, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place again for another 1-2 hours until the buns have doubled in size.
- Preheat your oven to 180°c. Remove the clingfilm and bake your cinnamon buns for 25 minutes until golden brown.
- Whilst the buns cool mix together the icing sugar and milk for the icing so they are a smooth paste. You can either put this in a piping bag or drizzle it over the buns whilst they are still a little warm.
- These buns are best eaten whilst still warm from the oven but if there are any still lying around after they keep well in the fridge for a day or two and can be revived with a 20 second blast in the microwave.
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