Despite all his efforts, he says he’s still feeling stressed that he’s not working fast enough. He’s even having dreams at night about working on the study… just so that he can move all of the clutter into the new study… and hail and behold the PRIZE!! i.e To eventually set up the cot and change table in the baby’s room and neatly place the cotton nappies in the shelving of the change table. Very cute.
I’ve made him these to enjoy for afternoon tea. They were really delicious straight out from the oven but if you decide to have them when they’re cooled, nuke them in the microwave for about 15 sec and Bob’s your Uncle.
This recipe is from Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess”
(Makes 9-10 buns)
Ingredients for the Dough:
- 300g flour, sifted
- 50g sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 23g fresh yeast
- 50g butter
- 200ml milk
- 1 egg
Ingredients for the Filling
- 75g butter, softened
- 75g sugar
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
Line tin with baking paper bottom and sides.
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 an egg white
- 180g pecans
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 175°C.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the sugar and flour.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg white until foamy; whisk in the brown sugar and flour mixture. Fold in the pecans.
- Transfer the pecans to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool completely before breaking apart.
Method
1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl.
2. Melt the butter and whisk it into the milk and eggs, then stir it into the flour mixture.
3. Mix to combine using the dough hook of an electric mixer until it is smooth and springy. If the dough looks too sticky, add a little more flour.
4. Form into a ball, place in an oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.
5. Take one third of the dough and roll it or stretch it to fit your tin; this will form the bottom of each bun when it has cooked. (I did not do this step.)
6. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 25 x 13cm. *Notes: As the dough was very sticky, I rolled the it out between 2 sheets of baking paper to prevent sticking.*
7. Mix the filling ingredients in a small bowl and then spread the rectangle with the buttery cinnamon mixture. Try to get even coverage on the whole of the dough.
8. Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage.
9. Cut the roll into 2cm slices to make 9-10 rounds.
10. Sit the rounds in lines on top of the dough in the tin, swirly cut side up. Don’t worry if they don’t fit snugly together as they will swell and become puffy when they prove (and cook).
11. Brush the tops with egg and then let them rise again for about 15 minutes.
12. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan forced and cook for 20-25 minutes, by which time the buns will have risen and will be golden brown in colour.
13. Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly on a rack. Press the candied pecans on top of the cinnamon buns and enjoy them warm.
*Note: Visually, the candied pecans did not work as well as I had hoped. The taste was lovely, but I was hoping for a more gooey, pecan texture to smear over the top of the cinnamon buns.
