girl in a food frenzy

Finished the last of those pastry tests at Tafe and I’m entering 2013 with a much wider rep of baked goods aka, moreish yummy things…this recipe is adapted from my school notes too.

Time 1:30 including proving time
Yield, 13 buns, or 1 bakers dozen.

Ingredients:

Dough,
225g strong flour, +extra to dust,
25g caster sugar+ extra to sprinkle,
5g mixed spice,
7g dried yeast,
110ml warmed milk,
1 whole egg,
50g butter, +extra to brush the dough,

Sticky buns,
40g sultanas (raisins) (I like to use the kiddy packs for baking, very little waste and I find it’s a perfect portion for most baked goods, like these buns.)

Plus the aforementioned extra butter & sugar, 1 cup of icing sugar and few extra drops of milk for the glaze.

You’ll also need a couple of large mixing bowls, wooden spoon, cling wrap, rolling pin, pastry brush, small sharp knife, (paring knife is ideal,) baking tin (circular or other, it’s up to you.) kitchen scales, measuring cups and spoons if you use them.

Method:

Mix the dry ingredients for the dough together in a bowl. Add the warmed milk, egg and the butter. Using your fingers, mix lightly and quickly. The dough will feel very sticky and softer than usual, knead until smooth.

Bring into a ball and cover with cling wrap in a lightly oiled bowl. Prove for 20-25mins or until double in size. During this waiting time, you can switch your oven to 200C or (392F) and grease the baking tin.

Dust down your bench with a little flour, (you can also flour the rolling pin) and gently roll out the dough. You don’t want it too thick, perhaps just over 1.5cm,

Brush the top of the dough with some melted butter and sprinkle generously with some extra castor sugar and scatter the sultanas over the top. You need enough butter to help the sugar and sultana’s to stick to the dough.

Gently roll up the dough into a cigar shape, teasing it gently and lengthening the roll as you go. Be sure to tuck in any sultanas that pop out from the insides.

Using your small, sharp knife, gently (saw) the log into smaller pieces, laying the scrolls (swirl side up) and press into the pretreated baking tin. Try not to overcrowd as the more room they have to stretch out, the softer & fluffier they’ll be!

Prove again for another 20-25 mins (or more if you like,) if they’ve risen successfully, you’ll see that where there were gaps before, the buns have now expanded to nearly greet each other as they settle into the pan.

Bake for 20-25 mins in the hot oven and afterwards, remove, rest & cool (before attempting to glaze.)

I like to make the glaze at this point, it’s simply one cup of icing sugar, that has a few drops of milk stirred into it, for an effective milky glaze!

Once the buns are cooled, use a small fork and drizzle large or smaller ribbons of the milky glaze across the buns. One hot cuppa and a quiet moment coming right up!