Down East 2013 ©
[1]With National Sticky Bun Day — February 21 — done and dusted for another year, we offer three of our twelve versions of this delicious breakfast treat. We serve it on all 12 of our historic windjammers, on nearly every trip from May to October and can attest nothing is quite as pleasurable as waking when the sun rises over the sea, sniffing the mouth-watering aroma of yeasty, cinnamon sweet rolls, baking in the wood-fired oven.
Although all windjammer sticky buns are delicious, bakers bring their own special signatures to the recipes for the sweet dough and for slight variations to the filling and topping. Some prefer a simple filling with nuts sitting atop the buns, swathed in the sticky butterscotch. Others like to put lots of different things in their filling — various nuts, dried fruits, chocolate chips, for instance. If using brown sugar for your sticky mixture, it is important to also add some kind of liquid sugar — syrup or molasses or corn syrup — as in the recipes below, otherwise your sticky mixture will crystallize.
Note well: Because the procedure for forming the buns is very much the same, it will be written only once, at the end of article.
In a small bowl, proof yeast with warm water and honey. In large mixing bowl, pour milk, melted shortening, sugar and eggs; mix until well blended. Add yeast mixture once it has proofed. Mix well. Blend in flour and mix until smooth. Place in greased bowl and cover with cloth. Let rise overnight or until doubled in bulk. Turn out onto lightly floured board and knead.
For the sticky mixture:
Grease an oblong baking pan and pour a thin layer of maple syrup or honey in the bottom. (Proceed to the end of the article for instruction on forming and baking buns.)
For the sticky mixture:
¾ C butter
2/3 C brown sugar
1/3 C Maine Maple syrup
½ to ¾ C roughly chopped pecans (optional)
The dough: Sift together the 3½ C flour, salt, cardamom, set aside. In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in the warm water and allow to proof. Whisk in the warm milk, softened butter, ¼ C sugar, and beaten egg. Add flour mixture, and mix to form a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes, or until a soft dough is formed, adding more flour as needed if dough is too sticky. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in bulk. (Dough can rise overnight in the refrigerator).
The sticky mixture: Melt the butter in the bottom of a 9X13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter and drizzle Maine maple syrup over all. Place pan on top of stove over low heat and whisk until brown sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. Sprinkle pecans evenly over sticky mixture and set aside. (Proceed to the end of the article for instruction on forming and baking buns.)
For the sticky mixture:
¾ C butter
2/3 C brown sugar
2 Tbsp molasses
The dough: Sift together the 3½ C flour, salt, cardamom; set aside. In a separate bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp sugar in the warm water and let sit for 10 minutes until frothy. Heat milk in a small sauce pan with remaining sugar and 1/3 C butter. When butter has melted, remove from heat and whisk in the egg. Cool to room temperature. Add the milk mixture to the yeast mixture, combine with flour mixture, and mix to form a dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 2-3 minutes, or until a soft dough is formed, adding more flour as needed if dough is too sticky. Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour or until doubled in bulk. (Dough can rise overnight in the refrigerator).
The sticky mixture: Melt the butter in the bottom of a 9X13-inch baking pan. Sprinkle brown sugar over the butter and drizzle molasses over all. Place pan on top of stove over low heat and heat without bubbling for about a minute, until brown sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat. (Proceed to the end of the article for instruction on forming and baking buns.)
Toss together sugar and cinnamon for filling. Have at hand raisins and nuts, other dried fruits, chocolate chips or whatever you choose for a filling. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a rectangle about 9”X 15” or 16”. Brush dough with the melted butter, leaving one long edge of the rectangle unbuttered. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the dough. If including raisins and nuts, sprinkle them over the cinnamon sugar. Roll into a log, lengthwise, starting with the long buttered edge so that it is on the inside of the roll; pinch the unbuttered edge onto the roll to seal (sometimes it’s helpful to moisten the unbuttered strip). Slice into 1 to 1½-inch slices and arrange, cut side down, over the sticky mixture (and pecans, if you choose that option) in the baking pan. Let rise until almost doubled in bulk.
Preheat oven to 375? and bake for 25-30 minutes, until sticky mixture is bubbling and buns are golden brown. Invert immediately onto a serving platter or foiled tray. Allow pan to remain in place over the buns for a few minutes so that all of the sticky mixture will drizzle down onto the buns.
For more information on the
Maine Windjammer Association, visit its website here. [2]
Links:
[1] http://www.downeast.com/files/images/Picture 5.png
[2] http://www.sailmainecoast.com/