French Macarons-Daring Bakers

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I was excited about this challenge, I have been wanting to make these for a long time. But, as it looks like my little bites of heaven turned out..unfortunately, they did not. This picture is as good as it gets, my friends. The taste was wonderful, looks like I did get the feet, or I should say more of a ruffle...but every one of them stuck and crumbled.

I won't give up on these though. I will try again...someday. :)

Daring Bakers go French!

I am back from a 3 month hiatus from the Daring Bakers. If you haven't heard of them, you really should check them out. It is a great way to learn new things, such as this month....puff pastry!!! I really didn't expect it to turn out, but it did, and I am a giddy little girl!

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I was surprised at how easy this really was. A few basic ingredients and a little bit of time and there you go. I did break mine up into 2 days. The first day, I mixed the dough, beat the butter, rolled and folded the dough a total of 6 turns, while tweeting with Megan and Barbara. These 2 girlies were a blast to bake along with. Then, I let the dough chill over night. The next day, gave it a good roll out, cut into shapes and baked.
The next step was to decide on a filling. This was the hardest part! I decided that I would go with a cinnamon pastry cream with sauteed apples. Fall is finally here and thought this is a great way to celebrate! Well, I had a little issue with the pastry cream...it clumped,but it still stated good. So, I let it chill overnight and when I came back the next day, it was hard as a rock!!! I probably cooked it too long and didn't temper the eggs good enough...so...plan B. Cinnamon whipped cream with sauteed apples, just as good!

Here it is...Vols-Au-Vent with Cinnamon Whipped Cream topped with Sauteed Apples!

Michel Richard’s Puff Pastry Dough
From: Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

Yield: 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients:2-1/2 cups (12.2 oz/ 354 g) unbleached all-purpose flour

1-1/4 cups (5.0 oz/ 142 g) cake flour

1 tbsp. salt (you can cut this by half for a less salty dough or for sweet preparations)

1-1/4 cups (10 fl oz/ 300 ml) ice water

1 pound (16 oz/ 454 g) very cold unsalted butter
plus extra flour for dusting work surface

Mixing the Dough:
Check the capacity of your food processor before you start. If it cannot hold the full quantity of ingredients, make the dough into two batches and combine them.
Put the all-purpose flour, cake flour, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse a couple of times just to mix. Add the water all at once, pulsing until the dough forms a ball on the blade. The dough will be very moist and pliable and will hold together when squeezed between your fingers. (Actually, it will feel like Play-Doh.)
Remove the dough from the machine, form it into a ball, with a small sharp knife, slash the top in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Wrap the dough in a damp towel and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the butter between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and beat it with a rolling pin until it flattens into a square that's about 1" thick. Take care that the butter remains cool and firm: if it has softened or become oily, chill it before continuing.

Incorporating the Butter:
Unwrap the dough and place it on a work surface dusted with all-purpose flour (A cool piece of marble is the ideal surface for puff pastry) with your rolling pin (preferably a French rolling pin without handles), press on the dough to flatten it and then roll it into a 10" square. Keep the top and bottom of the dough well floured to prevent sticking and lift the dough and move it around frequently. Starting from the center of the square, roll out over each corner to create a thick center pad with "ears," or flaps.

Place the cold butter in the middle of the dough and fold the ears over the butter, stretching them as needed so that they overlap slightly and encase the butter completely. (If you have to stretch the dough, stretch it from all over; don't just pull the ends) you should now have a package that is 8" square.

To make great puff pastry, it is important to keep the dough cold at all times. There are specified times for chilling the dough, but if your room is warm, or you work slowly, or you find that for no particular reason the butter starts to ooze out of the pastry, cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate it . You can stop at any point in the process and continue at your convenience or when the dough is properly chilled.

Making the Turns:
Gently but firmly press the rolling pin against the top and bottom edges of the square (this will help keep it square). Then, keeping the work surface and the top of the dough well floured to prevent sticking, roll the dough into a rectangle that is three times as long as the square you started with, about 24" (don't worry about the width of the rectangle: if you get the 24", everything else will work itself out.) With this first roll, it is particularly important that the butter be rolled evenly along the length and width of the rectangle; check when you start rolling that the butter is moving along well, and roll a bit harder or more evenly, if necessary, to get a smooth, even dough-butter sandwich (use your arm-strength!).

With a pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the top of the dough, and fold the rectangle up from the bottom and down from the top in thirds, like a business letter, brushing off the excess flour. You have completed one turn.

Rotate the dough so that the closed fold is to your left, like the spine of a book. Repeat the rolling and folding process, rolling the dough to a length of 24" and then folding it in thirds. This is the second turn.

Chilling the Dough:
If the dough is still cool and no butter is oozing out, you can give the dough another two turns now. If the condition of the dough is iffy, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. Each time you refrigerate the dough, mark the number of turns you've completed by indenting the dough with your fingertips. It is best to refrigerate the dough for 30 to 60 minutes between each set of two turns.

The total number of turns needed is six. If you prefer, you can give the dough just four turns now, chill it overnight, and do the last two turns the next day. Puff pastry is extremely flexible in this regard. However, no matter how you arrange your schedule, you should plan to chill the dough for at least an hour before cutting or shaping it.

Cinnamon whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream

3 TBSP sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Whip the whipping cream on medium speed, gradually add in the sugar and then add in the cinnamon. Whip until stiff peaks form.

Sauteed Apples (I could eat these by themselves!)

1/4 cup butter

4 large tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

In a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples and cook stirring constantly until apples are almost tender, 6-7 minutes.

Dissolve cornstarch in water, add to skillet. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and serve.

Apple Strudel for the Daring Bakers

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

This was not one that turned out for me. Strudel has been on my wanting to make list for a really long time and I was eager to try it. I didn't have any problems with stretching the dough paper thin, it didn't get as big as it should have, but stretching went just fine. Put it in the oven to bake, let it sit for 30 minutes..sliced it. My dough was really tough. It didn't want to slice and couldn't really chew it. My kids threw theirs in the garbage. But, hey, I tried it, know how to stretch this dough and hopefully it will turn out better on the next try. This is the reason that I stay with the Daring Bakers, to push myself to try things that are difficult, and some that are not so much. Now, bring on June!

Daring Bakers do Cheesecake..

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I ran out of time to get creative for this challenge, so here it is, a basic cheesecake. I will probably never make this recipe again, as I like my go to cheesecake recipe better, but this one was fine. Thanks Jenny for choosing a simple recipe for this months challenge!

Daring Bakers go Chocolate!

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

This Chocolate Valentino cake is really a flourless chocolate cake. I have made this before, so this was not a challenge for me, but the real challenge for me was the ice cream. I have made a chocolate ice cream, but I am still skeptical about making ice cream.

I chose to make a peanut butter ice cream to go with this chocolate cake. I found the recipe for this ice cream from Diane's Dishes. It was fantastic! Nice and creamy, and peanut buttery! Is that even a word? If not, it is now! :)

The cake itself was wonderful too, nice and moist in the center. Oh, and very chocolaty!! Combine that with the PB ice cream and my taste buds think that they are in heaven! I can't wait to see what March brings us!

Chocolate Valentino
Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces (1 pound) (454 grams) of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
½ cup (1 stick) plus 2 tablespoons (146 grams total) of unsalted butter
5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.
2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.
3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.
4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).
5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.
6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.
7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F/190C.
9. Bake for 25 minutes until an instant read thermometer reads 140F/60C. Note – If you do not have an instant read thermometer, the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.
10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

1 (18 oz) jar of creamy peanut butter
1 pint of heavy cream
1 pint of half and half
1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Mix all ingredients together in a medium pot over medium-low heat, until peanut butter is melted and all is combined. Let cool to room temp. You may need to stir occasionally so that the mixture doesn't separate. Once the mixture is cool, freeze according to your ice cream maker directions.

Tuile cookies for The Daring Bakers

Here we are for the start of 2009's Daring Baker Challenge. The first challenge of the year, Tuile cookies. I had a little trouble with these little babies, but I was at fault. The recipe clearly states to let the butter soften, I did not do this, so my dough was lumpy and runny. Because of this, I couldn't use a stencil, but it worked out just spooning the dough on my baking stone. Once they baked up in about 8 minutes, they wanted to stick. I let them cool a minute or two and then with a cake decorating spatula, using a sawing motion, I got them off in one piece. Thank Goodness!!



This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.



We were also to pair this with a light dipper. I used my sweet potato butter for my dipper. The cookies were really sweet and I actually liked them by themselves. I could see these used as a little bowl filled with a fruit salad, but after finally getting them off the baking stone, all my creativity was gone.


Following is a recipe taken from a book called “The Chocolate Book”, written by female Dutch Master chef Angélique Schmeinck.



Recipe:

65 grams / ¼ cup / 2.3 ounces softened butter (not melted but soft)

60 grams / ½ cup / 2.1 ounces sifted confectioner’s sugar

1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)

2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)

65 grams / 1/2 cup / 2.3 ounces sifted all purpose flour

1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice

Butter/spray to grease baking sheet



Oven: 180C / 350F

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not over mix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (180C/350F) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a baking sheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….



Sweet potato butter

4 cups peeled sweet potatoes, cut into slices
2 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp cinnamon, or to taste
1/4 tsp nutmeg, optional
1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and stir. Cook on high heat until sweet potatoes are fully cooked. Mash or beat with an electric hand mixer until well blended. Pour into jars and can as normal. This mixture will be a little thicker than apple butter.

Caramel Cake with Caramelized Butter Frosting for Daring Bakers

It is that time again when bloggers all over the globe will be posting about this cake. This is the day of the great reveal of the Daring Bakers Challenge. I wasn't excited about this months challenge when I read what it would be, but after making it and loving it, I quickly changed my mind. I made the cake on Saturday morning and by the next morning, it was completely gone. Just crumbs, that I really wanted to lick off of the plate. :) So, let's get on with the details, shall we?

This months hostess is the lovely Delores from Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity. She also had a couple of co host this month, Alex, aka Brownie, of Blondie and Brownie and Jenny of Foray into Food. This recipe came from Shuna Fish Lydon, who is the originator of this cake.

I am glad that I made this cake, and already have other plans with the cake recipe. My mother in law, Laura, already has plans to make this into a pineapple upside down cake! All I am saying, is she better save me some!!

CARAMEL CAKE WITH CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
courtesy of Shuna Fish Lydon

10 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 Cup Caramel Syrup (see recipe below)
2 each eggs, at room temperature
splash vanilla extract
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk, at room temperature

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter one tall (2 – 2.5 inch deep) 9-inch cake pan. (I used a bundt pan)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter until smooth. Add sugar and salt & cream until light and fluffy. Slowly pour room temperature caramel syrup into bowl. Scrape down bowl and increase speed. Add eggs/vanilla extract a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down bowl again, beat mixture until light and uniform.

Sift flour and baking powder.Turn mixer to lowest speed, and add one third of the dry ingredients. When incorporated, add half of the milk, a little at a time. Add another third of the dry ingredients, then the other half of the milk and finish with the dry ingredients. {This is called the dry, wet, dry, wet, dry method in cake making. It is often employed when there is a high proportion of liquid in the batter.}

Take off mixer and by hand, use a spatula to do a few last folds, making sure batter is uniform. Turn batter into prepared cake pan.Place cake pan on cookie sheet or 1/2 sheet pan. Set first timer for 30 minutes, rotate pan and set timer for another 15-20 minutes. Your own oven will set the pace. Bake until sides pull away from the pan and skewer inserted in middle comes out clean. Cool cake completely before icing it. Cake will keep for three days outside of the refrigerator.

CARAMEL SYRUP
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup water (for "stopping" the caramelization process)

In a small stainless steel saucepan, with tall sides, mix water and sugar until mixture feels like wet sand. Brush down any stray sugar crystals with wet pastry brush. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly: dark amber.When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water. Caramel will jump and sputter about! It is very dangerous, so have long sleeves on and be prepared to step back.Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.}Note: For safety reasons, have ready a bowl of ice water to plunge your hands into if any caramel should land on your skin.

CARAMELIZED BUTTER FROSTING
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound confectioner’s sugar, sifted
4-6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-4 tablespoons caramel syrup
Kosher or sea salt to taste

Cook butter until brown. Pour through a fine meshed sieve into a heatproof bowl, set aside to cool.Pour cooled brown butter into mixer bowl.In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, add confectioner's sugar a little at a time. When mixture looks too chunky to take any more, add a bit of cream and or caramel syrup. Repeat until mixture looks smooth and all confectioner's sugar has been incorporated. Add salt to taste.Note: Caramelized butter frosting will keep in fridge for up to a month.To smooth out from cold, microwave a bit, then mix with paddle attachment until smooth and light.

The Daring Bakers make history!

For the first time ever the Daring Baker challenge for the month of September was chosen as a gluten free and/or vegan recipe, hosted by Natalie from Gluten a Go Go and Shelly of Musings from a fish bowl. I am not vegan or gluten free, so this definitely was a challenge for me. Wondering what it was?

Lavash Crackers with a topping.

We were given the recipe for the crackers and could add any seasonings to the, as long as they were vegan or gluten free. We were to also create a dipper for the crackers. I decided to sprinkle the tops of the crackers with cinnamon and sugar for a sweet fix. For the dip I chose a vegan lemon curd. However, the curd did not thicken up enough to actually dip the crackers into. Pretty much, you had to dip the cracker, let it run off, then you could eat it. It was tasty though.

I am still on the fence about the crackers. I really liked how the dough came together and rolled out and baked. But, it really isn't what I expected. Although, I am really not sure what I expected of them. Maybe I will try them again with some garlic. I am glad that I tried them. It really did push me out of my comfort zone.

Can't wait to see what October brings!!

Danish Braid for the Daring Bakers

Updated: I love this dough! I loved making it, folding it, everything! This month was chosen by Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking?, they chose the danish braid from Sherry Yard's, The Secret of Baking. This is something that I would have never tried on my own. That is why I love the Daring Bakers, each month we are given a challenge out of our comfort zone. I would definitely recommend trying this dough, it is easier than expected and you get to make yummy danishes from it. The fillings are endless. I chose to make a cream cheese and peach filling. The only regret I have from this, is that my peaches were not ripe and still crunchy and tart after the baking. But, if I pick out the peaches, it is wonderful! I do have extra dough in the freezer, and plan to make individual size danishes with several different fillings.

Thanks to the hosts for a wonderful challenge this month, and check them out for the recipe!

I am sure that you have seen the Danish Bread popping up all over blogland from all of the Daring Bakers as of yesterday. That is when mine should have been completed and posted...but, obviously, it is not. The dough was made yesterday, it is still in the fridge, waiting to be filled and baked. That will be done as soon as I get home today, so check back later tonight.

***And don't forget to get me your Cupcake Hero entries before midnight tonight!***

Daring Bakers make cheesecake pop!!

This months Daring Baker challenge was chosen by Deborah of Taste and Tell and Elle of Feeding my Enthusiasms. They chose a recipe from the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor. I have this book and it is one of my favorites. I would definitely recommend this as a buy for anyone who is in the market for a new cookbook.

I made these pops for a cookout that we had with some friends and they were a huge hit. I will absolutely make these again and again. It would also be great as a whole cheesecake.

A huge thanks to Deborah and Elle for a great challenge this month. And, as always, go and check out the Daring Bakers, there are over 800 of us now!!

Lemon Meringue Pie Daring Baker Style

This months challenge was hosted by the lovely Jen at The Canadian Baker, and she chose Lemon Meringue Pie. I was so excited when I got the news that this would be the Daring Baker Challenge for January. What a great way to start the New Year.

As the month went on, there was talk from other DBer's that they had a problem with a watery filling. This made me nervous, surely this would not happen to me and that putting my pie together would go perfectly.

Made the pie dough...went together great! Baked it....perfect. While the crust was cooling, I made the lemon curd...oh, that wonderful, tart lemon curd! Very tasty. Let it cool, and then I made the meringue without any problems. Can this be? Did my pie turn out just the way that it should? Unfortunately, no. I had the watery mess, but, it did taste great!

I don't regret making this pie. That is part of being a Daring Baker...some turn out, and some don't. A great big Thank you to Jen for choosing a great dessert to start off the New Year. Check out her Lemon Meringue Pie for the recipe. And, don't forget to check out all of the other Daring Baker's on their experience.

December Challenge--Yule Log!!

This months challenge was hosted by Ivonne and Lisa, and they chose the yule log. What?! a yule log...I thought to myself...First of all, just let me start with saying, that I was scared to death to even read the instructions. First, I thought, well, I will just bail out on this one, but then I wouldn't be a very Daring Baker then, would I. So, right on the dead line, I decided that I would have to at least attempt to make this,and I am so glad that I did.

First, I started with the mushrooms. I made these out of meringue and I wish that I would have had more time to play with the meringue and maybe make some cute little snowmen or something, but ok....the mushrooms look like mushrooms and I am happy with that.

Then, to tackle the genoise cake. This made me a little nervous, with having to heat the eggs, and them whip them....would I get it to the right consistency...why, yes I did! How excited I was. Ok, the cake is in the oven, now it is time for the buttercream...I was scared to get to this part because I had been reading other posts about curdling. Would this happen to me and what would I do if it did? Of course, go to my trusty Daring Baker friends. They always have answers or suggestions to help figure out anything. But, got to separating my eggs, add the sugar, heat, and then whip in all of the butter. no curdling so far....I decided to do a chocolate buttercream, because my husband and the kiddos, wouldn't like the coffee flavor, although I would love it....so, back to the buttercream...added some vanilla and cocoa, whipped a little longer, and viola....no curdling!! Can I just get an AMEN!!

Now, it is time to spread half of my buttercream onto my cake, and roll. What if it cracks? My husband asked me...well, if it does, it is nothing that a little buttercream can't cover, right? Well, I did get a few cracks in rolling, but for the most part it all stayed together. I am really glad that I did this challenge. The little "rocks" with my yule log are Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles. I will post this recipe in the next day or so.

Now, go and check out the yule log craze that will hit this weekend.

I also wish everyone a safe Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year!!!

October Daring Baker challenge

What is this? Bostini Cream Pie, of course...not to be confused with Boston cream pie. The bottom layer is a vanilla custard, topped with an orange chiffon cake, then topped with a chocolate ganache. I loved the custard, I could eat it by itself. The cake was good, but the only mistake that I made was that I used salted butter with the chocolate, which made the whole dessert a little salty. Next time I will definitely use unsalted butter! This month was hosted my Mary at Alpineberry, you can find this recipe here.

While looking over at a fellow DBer Lis on her blog...it states that the Daring Bakers have now grown to 299 members!! WOW!! That is amazing! Go and check out all of the other's posts of this months challenge from our blogroll. They truly are a bunch of talented bakers!

Sticky Buns--a 1st Daring Baker Challenge

When the September challenge was announced as "cinnamon rolls/and or sticky buns" I was so excited. I have never been able to make a yeast dough and get it to rise, so this was another try at it and it worked! I chose to only make the sticky ones, because, how can you go wrong with just sticky, sugary, goodness soaked into a light and fluffy dough..yum!!
Thanks to Marce for a great challenge!
Go and check out the Daring Bakers blogroll and see their experience with this challenge and their variations as well!!

Sticky Buns
6 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
5 1/2 Tbsp shortening or unsalted butter margarine
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp lemon extract OR 1 tsp grated zest of 1 lemon
3 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant yeast (instant yeast is also called rapid-rise or fast-rising)
1 1/8-1 1/4 cups whole milk or buttermilk, at room temp
1/2 Cup cinnamon sugar (6/2 Tbsp granulated sugar plus 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon--or any other spices you would like to use)
Walnuts, pecans, or other nuts that you may choose as well as raisins or other dried fruits, such as dried cherries or cranberries.
Caramel Glaze--recipe at bottom

1. Cream together the sugar, salt and shortening or butter on medium-high speed in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment. Whip in the egg and lemon extract/zest until smooth. Then add the flour, yeast, and milk. Mix on low speed until the dough forms a ball. Switch to the dough hook and increase the speed to medium, mixing for approximately 10 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. 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.
2. Ferment at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the dough doubles in size.
3. Mist the counter with spray oil and transfer the dough to the counter. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, lightly dusting the top with flour to keep it from sticking to the pin. Roll into a rectangle. Don't roll 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, cut the dough into 8-12 pieces each about 1 3/4 inches for thick, larger buns or 1 1/4 inch thick for smaller ones.
4. Coat the bottom of 1 or more baking dishes 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 (if you are using). You do not need a lot of nuts and raisins, only a sprinkling. Lay the pieces of dough on top of the glaze, spacing them about 1/2 inch apart. Mist the dough with spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap.
5. Proof at room temperature for 75-90 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 3-4 hours before baking to allow the dough to proof.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the oven rack on the lowest shelf for the sticky buns.
7. Bake the sticky buns for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Remember that the sticky buns are really being baked upside down, 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.
8. Cool the buns in the pan for 5-10 minutes and them remove them by flipping them over into another pan. Carefully scoop any run-off glaze back over the buns with a spatula. Wait at least 20 minutes before serving.

Caramel Glaze
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temp
1/2 Cup corn syrup
1 tsp lemon, orange or vanilla extract.

1. Combing granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt and butter in a bowl and cream for 2 minutes. Add corn syrup and extract of your choice and continue to cream for about 5 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
2. 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.