Susans Sticky Bun Slurry Recipes

FLOUR'S FAMOUS STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• First, make the goo. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the brown sugar and cook, stirring, to combine (it may look separated, that's ok). Remove from the heat and whisk in the honey, cream, water, and salt. Strain to remove any undissolved lumps of brown sugar. Let cool for about 30 minutes, or until cooled to room temperature. You should have about 3 cups. (The mixture can be made up to 2 weeks in advance and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.)
• Divide the dough in half. Use half for this recipe and reserve the other half for another use.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the brioche into rectangle about 12 by 16 inches and 1/4-inch thick. It will have the consistency of cold, damp Play-Doh and should be fairly easy to roll. Position the rectangle so a short side is facing you.
• In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and half of the pecans. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the entire surface of the dough. Starting from the short side farthest from you and working your way down, roll up the rectangle like a jelly roll. Try to roll tightly, so you have a nice round spiral. Trim off about 1/4- inch from each end of the roll to make them even.
• Use a bench scraper or a chef's knife to cut the roll into 8 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2-inches wide. (At this point, the unbaked buns can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 1 week. When ready to bake, thaw them, still wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours, then proceed as directed.)
• Pour the goo into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, covering the bottom evenly. Sprinkle the remaining pecans evenly over the surface. Arrange the buns, evenly spaced, in the baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm spot to proof until the dough is puffy, pillowy, and soft and the buns are touching-almost tripled in size, about 2 hours.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven, and heat to 350 degrees F.
• Bake until golden brown, about 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the dish on a wire rack for 20 to 30 minutes. One at a time, invert the buns onto a serving platter, and spoon any extra goo and pecans from the bottom of the dish over the top.
• The buns are best served warm or within 4 hours of baking. They can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 day, and then warmed in a 325 degree F oven for 10 to 12 minutes before serving.
• 1 3/8 cups (2 3/4 sticks; 310 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 10 to 12 pieces
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the all-purpose flour, bread flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water, and 5 of the eggs. Beat on low speed for 3 to 4 minutes, or until all the ingredients are combined. Stop the mixer, as needed, to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the flour is incorporated into the wet ingredients. Once the dough has come together, beat on low speed for another 3 to 4 minutes. The dough will be very stiff and seem quite dry.
• With the mixer on low speed, add the butter, 1 piece at a time, mixing after each addition until it disappears into the dough. Continue mixing on low speed for about 10 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. It is important for all the butter to be thoroughly mixed into the dough. If necessary, stop the mixer occasionally and break up the dough with your hands to help mix in the butter.
• Once the butter is completely incorporated, turn up the speed to medium and beat until the dough becomes sticky, soft, and somewhat shiny, another 15 minutes. It will take some time to come together. It will look shaggy and questionable at the start and then eventually it will turn smooth and silky. Turn the speed to medium-high and beat for about 1 minute. You should hear the dough make a slap-slap-slap sound as it hits the sides of the bowl. Test the dough by pulling at it; it should stretch a bit and have a little give. If it seems wet and loose and more like a batter than a dough, add a few tablespoons of flour and mix until it comes together. If it breaks off into pieces when you pull at it, continue to mix on medium speed for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until it develops more strength and stretches when you grab it. It is ready when you can gather it all together and pick it up in 1 piece.
• Put the dough in a large bowl or plastic container and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap directly onto the surface of the dough. Let the dough proof (that is, grow and develop flavor) in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours or up to overnight At this point you can freeze the dough in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

SWIRLY STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a pot set over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add 3/4 cup of the brown sugar, the vanilla and 1/4 cup water, and cook until the sugar dissolves. Spread 3 tablespoons of the sugar mixture on the bottom of a 9-inch round baking dish, and sprinkle the 1/2 cup whole pecans over the sugar mixture.
• Dust a clean surface with flour, and roll out the dough to a 10-by-14-inch rectangle. Cover the dough with the remaining 1/2 cup of the brown sugar, the 1/2 cup chopped pecans and the remaining sugar mixture. Starting at one of the long ends, gently roll the dough into a log. Gently pinch the seam with your fingers to seal, and then cut the log into 12 equal pieces. Place the dough in the baking dish and bake until golden brown, 30 minutes.
• Rest the sticky buns for 5 minutes. Place a flat serving platter over the baking dish and flip to remove the buns. Serve warm.

CHEF JOHN'S STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Combine warm water and milk in a mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast over. Let sit until frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Add sugar, egg, and melted butter for dough to the yeast mixture. Mix with a whisk before adding 75% of the flour with the salt. Mix, adding more flour, until a very soft and sticky dough is formed. Let knead in the mixer for about 5 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• While dough is rising, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Generously butter a 9x13-inch metal baking pan.
• Combine brown sugar, white sugar, salt, melted butter, and water for topping in a bowl. Mix thoroughly until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly to cover the bottom. Scatter pecans evenly over the top. Set aside until needed.
• Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl for filling; mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside until needed.
• Transfer dough onto a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour your hands and press and stretch the dough to form a 18x15-inch rectangle. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the dough to the edges, leaving a 2-inch border along the edges. Lightly press the sugar mixture into the dough with your hands.
• Roll the dough into a cylinder with lightly floured hands starting with the edge closest to you; try not to roll too tightly. Finish shaping the cylinder as uniformly as possible, seam-side down. Lightly score the roll with the edge of a knife to indicate 12 equal portions.
• Slide a piece of string or floss under the dough, lining it up at the first knife mark. Cross the ends of the string over the top and pull in opposite directions to cut through the dough. Continue with remaining dough.
• Transfer buns into the pan with topping, making 3 rows of 4 buns. If one side of a bun has more dough than another, place with the doughier side up in the pan. Tent the pan loosely with foil and let rise until buns have almost doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Save foil in case you need it towards the end of baking time.
• Bake in the preheated oven until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a bun reaches 200 degrees F (93 degrees C), about 35 minutes. If the tops are getting too browned, loosely tent the pan with foil for the last 5 to 10 minutes of baking time.
• Remove from the oven onto a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Turn pan over carefully onto a serving platter. Use a spoon to transfer any sticky topping that has remained in the pan. Let cool and serve warm or at room temperature.

SANTA'S STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• In large bowl, combine yeast, salt, 2 cups flour and 2/3 cup sugar.
• Heat 2 cups of milk and 6 T butter. Gradually beat liquid into dry ingredients until blended.
• Increase speed; beat 2 minutes. Beat in eggs and 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes.
• Stir in 5 cups flour. Knead dough 10 minutes. Shape dough into ball. Cover and let rest for about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt 6 T butter. Mix nuts, cinnamon and 1 1/2 cups sugar.
• Grease roasting pan.
• Cut dough in half and roll into 20 x 10-inch rectangle. You shouldn't need flour to roll dough.
• Brush dough with 1/3 of the butter; sprinkle with half of cinnamon/sugar mixture. Roll into jelly roll fashion. Slice crosswise.
• Repeat with other half of dough. Cover and let rise 30 minutes in pan.
• Then brush with remaining butter. (If necessary, melt some more butter and pour over rolls).
• Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
• For Glaze: In cup, mix powdered sugar with 4 t milk. Brush glaze over hot rolls.

CINNAMON BUNS AND STICKY BUNS

Steps:

• Cream together the sugar, salt, and shortening on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a large metal spoon and mixing bowl and do it by hand); if you are using powdered milk, cream the milk with the sugar, but add the water with the flour and yeast. Whip in the egg and lemon extract until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed (or stir by hand) until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 minutes (or knead by hand for 12 to 15 minutes), or until the dough is silky and supple, tacky but not sticky. You may have to add a little flour or water while mixing to achieve this texture. The dough should pass the windowpane test (page 58) and register 77° to 81°F. Lightly oil a large bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
• Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
• Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Proceed as shown below in the Shaping Cinnamon Buns and Sticky Buns sidebar.
• For cinnamon buns, line 1 or more sheet pans with baking parchment. Place the buns approximately 1/2 inch apart so that they aren't touching but are close to one another. For sticky buns, coat the bottom of 1 or more baking dishes or baking pans with sides at least 1 1/2 inches high with a 1/4-inch layer of the caramel glaze. Sprinkle on the nuts and raisins. You do not need a lot of nuts and raisins, only a sprinkling. Lay the pieces of dough on top of the caramel glaze, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap or a food-grade plastic bag.
• Proof at room temperature for 75 to 90 minutes, or until the pieces have grown into one another and have nearly doubled in size. You may also retard the shaped buns in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, pulling the pans out of the refrigerator 3 to 4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F with the oven rack on the middle shelf for cinnamon buns but on the lowest shelf for sticky buns.
• Bake the cinnamon buns for 20 to 30 minutes or the sticky buns for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. If you are baking sticky buns, remember that they are really upside down (regular cinnamon buns are baked right side up), so the heat has to penetrate through the pan and into the glaze to caramelize it. The tops will become the bottoms, so they may appear dark and done, but the real key is whether the underside is fully baked. It takes practice to know just when to pull the buns out of the oven.
• For cinnamon buns, cool the buns in the pan for about 10 minutes and then streak white fondant glaze across the tops while the buns are warm but not too hot. Remove the buns from the pans and place them on a cooling rack. Wait at least 20 minutes before serving. For sticky buns, cool the buns in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and then remove them by flipping them over onto another pan. Carefully scoop any run-off glaze back over the buns with a spatula. Wait at least 20 minutes before serving.
• Shaping cinnamon buns and sticky buns
• Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top of the dough with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll it into a rectangle about 2/3 inch thick and 14 inches wide by 12 inches long for larger buns, or 18 inches wide by 9 inches long for smaller buns. Don't roll out the dough too thin, or the finished buns will be tough and chewy rather than soft and plump.
• Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the surface of the dough and roll the dough up into a cigar-shaped log, creating a cinnamon-sugar spiral as you roll.
• With the seam side down (see page 143), cut the dough into 8 to 12 even pieces each about 1 3/4 inches thick for larger buns; or 12 to 16 pieces each 1 1/4 inch thick for smaller buns.
• BREAD PROFILE
• Enriched, standard dough; direct method; commercial yeast
• DAYS TO MAKE: 1
• 15 minutes mixing; 3 1/2 hours fermentation, shaping, and proofing; 20 to 40 minutes baking
• COMMENTARY
• This dough can be used for other applications besides cinnamon and sticky buns. For instance, you can make thumbprint sweet rolls, filled with jam or jelly. You can also make pastry logs. Roll out the dough as you would for cinnamon buns, but instead of cutting pinwheel slices and baking them face up, load the logs with nuts, raisins, and cinnamon sugar and bake them whole, like bâtards. Slice them after they've cooled so all the goodies inside come tumbling out onto your plate.
• GRACE NOTES: (White Fondant Glaze for Cinnamon Buns)
• Cinnamon buns are usually topped with a thick white glaze called fondant. There are many ways to make fondant glaze, but here is a delicious and simple version, enlivened by the addition of citrus flavor, either lemon or orange. You can also substitute vanilla extract or rum extract, or simply make the glaze without any flavorings.
• Sift 4 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract and between 6 tablespoons to 1/2 cup of warm milk, briskly whisking until all the sugar is dissolved. Add the milk slowly and only as much as is needed to make a thick, smooth paste.
• When the buns have cooled but are still warm, streak the glaze over them by dipping the tines of a fork or a whisk into the glaze and waving the fork or whiskover the tops. Or, form the streaks by dipping your fingers in the glaze and letting it drip off as you wave them over the tops of the buns. (Remember to wear latex gloves.)
• Caramel Glaze for Sticky Buns
• Caramel glaze is essentially some combination of sugar and fat, cooked until it caramelizes. The trick is catching it just when the sugar melts and lightly caramelizes to a golden amber. Then it will cool to a soft, creamy caramel. If you wait too long and the glaze turns dark brown, it will cool to a hard, crackyour-teeth consistency. Most sticky bun glazes contain other ingredients to influence flavor and texture, such as corn syrup to keep the sugar from crystallizing and flavor extracts or oils, such as vanilla or lemon. This version makes the best sticky bun glaze of any I've tried. It was developed by my wife, Susan, for Brother Juniper's Café in Forestville, California.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature.
• Cream together for 2 minutes on high speed with the paddle attachment. Add 1/2 cup corn syrup and 1 teaspoon lemon, orange, or vanilla extract. Continue to cream for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
• Use as much of this as you need to cover the bottom of the pan with a 1/4-inch layer. Refrigerate and save any excess for future use; it will keep for months in a sealed container.
• BAKER'S PERCENTAGE FORMULA
• Cinnamon Buns and Sticky Buns %
• Sugar: 20.3 %
• Salt: 1.6 %
• Shortening: 17.2 %
• Egg: 10.3 %
• Lemon extract: 1.1%
• Bread flour: 100 %
• Instant yeast: 1.4
• Milk (approx.) 59.4 %
• Total: 211.3 %

SUSAN'S STICKY BUN SLURRY

Steps:

• Combine the sugars and butter in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. If mixing by hand, stir vigorously with a large spoon for 2 minutes. The ingredients should be smooth and evenly blended. Add the corn syrup, salt, and lemon extract and mix with the paddle attachment on medium speed, or continue mixing vigorously by hand, for about 2 minutes. Increase to medium-high speed or stir even more vigorously for 1 or 2 minutes, until the slurry is fluffy.