2011

2011 … New Year, new resolutions, new lists of things to do, new hopes …

It is 8^th of January already and I can honestly say that I didn’t see where the last days gone, so fast they past. I know this is going to be a busy year and I feel excited for what is to come.

If you read my previous post you saw that my Christmas gifts were cookbooks. Three of them full of mouth watering recipes to try. Since it is cold in Hong Kong in the past days I thought it would be a good excuse to let you know that since Christmas I already made cinnamon rolls twice (and I shared most of them with friends…). Aren’t they the perfect match for cold weather? I think so.

The buns recipe is from Nigella Lawson “How to be a Domestic Goddess” book. I have my reservations with the title of this book because I don’t expect in any way to be a goddess, imagine a domestic one. But title aside the book is amazing and if you have a chance to put your hands in a copy, do it because you won’t regret.

The recipe looks a little complex when you first look at it but once you go thru it is easy to follow and the result … yummmm… delicious, warm and definitely worth trying.

Norwegian Cinnamon Buns

Recipe and Instructions extracted from Nigella Lawson How to be a Domestic Goddess book, page 322

For the Dough:

600g flour

100g sugar

½ teaspoon of salt

21g of easy blend yeast or 45g fresh yeast

100g butter

400ml milk

2 eggs

For the Filling:

150 soft butter, unsalted

150g sugar

1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Roasting tin approximately 33cm x 24 cm or large brownie tin, lined with baking parchment bottom and sides.

Preheat the oven to 230o C/gas mark 8;

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Melt the butter and whisk it into the milk and eggs, then stir the flour mixture. Mix to combine and then knead the dough either by hand or using the dough hook of a food mixer until its smooth and springy. Form into a ball, placed in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave it to rise for about 25 minutes.

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. Roll out the rest of the dough on a lightly floured surface, aiming to get a rectangle of roughly 50x25cm. 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. Roll it up from the longest side until you have a giant sausage. Cut the roll into 2cm slices which should make about 20 rounds. 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. Brush them with egg and let them rise for about 15 minutes to let them get duly puffy.

Put in the hot oven and cook for 20-25 minutes, by which time the buns will have risen and will be golden in colour. Don’t worry if they catch in places (…).Remove them from the tin and leave to cool slightly in a rack – it’s easy just to pick up the whole sheet of parchment and transfer them like that – before letting people tear them off, to eat warm.

Makes 20.