September 27, 2009

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes...
I have spent the good part of today weeding my herb garden and the back patio -- lots of work to put the yard to bed for the (inevitable!) winter months. Yesterday we trimmed back neighbouring tree branches that were touching our roof and overhanging the back patio, so I also got to burn a lot of dead branches in my fire pit (whooo hooo!) - Burn baby burn, disco inferno...

Pedometer Dreamin'
In spite of all of the hard physical work, I am under 2000 steps thus far for today. My plan is to regroup and head out for a long walk - I will do an extra round on my doubled route to hopefully equal 100 minutes and more than 10,000 steps. I actually fell asleep last night with my pedometer still clipped on my sleep pants -- apparently I was only able to manage 76 steps in my sleep, but hey it all counts! Too hilarious... I am truly addicted!

Suspended Cinnimation!
After holding you in suspense, here (at long last!) is my recipe for cinnamon buns. We have consumed almost two pans of three now -- oink! Hope you will enjoy making and eating these buns -- it is definitely worth it! Today, the whole house still smells wonderfully of cinnamon and vanilla.

Cinnamon Buns

For the dough:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
2-1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp. salt
4 beaten eggs
7-8 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with 2 tsp. of the granulated sugar added in - about 10 minutes; I use a four liter Pyrex measuring cup for this. Meanwhile heat the milk over low temperature with remaining sugar, and the salt - stir intermittently until the butter is melted. Remove from burner, pour into a large mixing bowl (you will be mixing the dough in this bowl, so make sure it is big enough!) and allow to cool slightly. Beat eggs into the butter/milk mix and stir in the yeast. Gradually add in 3 cups of the flour, and continue to add in enough of the flour to make a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured, smooth surface and knead for 7-10 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl with canola oil and place the dough ball in the oiled bowl, turning to cover all sides of the ball with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and set to rise in a warm place (about 45 minutes to one hour - dough will double in bulk). I set my oven to 150 degrees Fahrenheit and place the bowl on the enamel surface between the four burners -- it is nice and warm and it speeds up the rise a tad. Meanwhile, prepare the filling, glaze and grease three baking dishes for your buns.

When the dough is ready, divide it into 3 parts and roll the first piece into a rectangle (about 14" W x 18" L) on a lightly floured smooth surface. Spread with 1/3 of the filling (see below) and roll tightly from one of the longer sides. Cut into 12 equal pieces and place cut side up in a 10" x 13" Pyrex baking dish (14" round quiche or similar edged dish will also work for one dozen buns) -- set aside, uncovered and allow to rise again. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. While warm, drizzle with Vanilla Glaze (see below). Repeat these steps for the remaining two pieces of dough.

Filling:

1 cup softened butter
2 cups (packed measure) brown sugar
5 Tbsp. cinnamon

Use a butter knife to spread a layer of butter over the rolled rectangle of dough - leave a 1.5" strip uncovered on one of the long side so that you can close the roll later. Sprinkle one third of the sugar and one third of the sugar over the surface. Roll tightly and continue as described above.

Vanilla Glaze:

2 cups powdered icing sugar
2 tsp. white vanilla extract
Enough warm water to make good drizzling consistency

Place icing sugar in a medium size bowl and measure in the vanilla extract. Place about 1/2 cup warm water in a measuring cup and slowly stir in the water until a thin icing is formed -- it should not be runny, but should run languidly off your spoon when you hold it up. Do not worry if you add a bit too much water -- just add in a couple of extra spoonfuls of icing sugar; this is very easy and forgiving. Cover until your buns come out of the oven - stir again just before drizzling.