Where skin porn and food porn collide

It's fun to use google and see what it returns when searching for 'sticky buns' as, well, the imagination is a poor substitute for reality. When food and skin porn collide it gets fairly ugly pretty quickly. Sticky buns are likely the source of inspiration for the Finnish bostonkakku which are served like a pie rather than the individual buns. One of the guys at work quipped that it is served this way because you can feed 20 instead of 8 people.

I figured that since I was making dallaspulla that I'd make the inspiration for texaspulla and bostonkakku so that my test subjects would know just what they had been missing all these years. :) The dough is a snap to make even without a mixer and is much easier to work with than the pulla dough. The only drawback is the time spent waiting for the dough to rise. With a four-day weekend approaching where absolutely nothing will be open and we'll likely have crappy weather given that it's a holiday, what could be better than making a pan of sticky buns and eating them instead of chocolate eggs? These are, by far, the best cinnamon rolls I've ever made and my test subjects consumed them in a shark chum feeding frenzy. Two guys even asked me for the recipe.

Sticky Buns, a.k.a. caramel rolls or cinnamon rolls

Makes: 12 sticky buns
Time: ~30 minutes prep, 3 hours for dough rising
Source: Cook's Illustrated

This recipe has four components: the dough that is shaped into buns, the filling that creates the swirl in the shaped buns, the caramel glaze that bakes in the bottom of the baking dish along with the buns, and the pecan topping that garnishes the buns once baked. Although the ingredient list may look long, note that many ingredients are repeated. Leftover sticky buns can be wrapped in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerated for up to 3 days, but they should be warmed through before serving. They reheat quickly in a microwave oven (for 2 buns, about 2 minutes at 50 percent power works well); they can also be put into a 325F/175C-degree oven for about 8 minutes.

Dough

• 3 large eggs at room temperature
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (2 dl piima) at room temperature
• 1/4 cup (.5 dl) granulated sugar 
• 1 1/4 teaspoons table salt 
• 2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast  (1 packet sunnuntai dry yeast)
• 4 1/4 cups (10,5 dl) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting work surface
• 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm

1. In bowl of standing mixer, whisk eggs; add buttermilk and whisk to combine.
2. Whisk in sugar, salt, and yeast.
3. Add about 2 cups (5 dl) flour and butter; stir with wooden spoon or rubber spatula until evenly moistened and combined.
4. Add all but about 1/4 cup (1/2 dl) remaining flour and knead with dough hook at low speed 5 minutes.
5. Check consistency of dough (dough should feel soft and moist but should not be wet and sticky; add more flour, if necessary); knead at low speed 5 minutes longer (dough should clear sides of bowl but stick to bottom).
6. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface; knead by hand about 1 minute to ensure that dough is uniform (dough should not stick to work surface during hand kneading; if it does stick, knead in additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time).
7. Lightly spray large bowl or plastic container with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to bowl, spray dough lightly with cooking spray, then cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap.
8. Set in warm, draftfree spot until doubled in volume, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Caramel Glaze

• 6 tablespoons or 85g unsalted butter 
• 3/4 cup (1,75 dl) light brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons corn syrup, light or dark
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream 
• 1 pinch table salt 

1. Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for glaze in small saucepan.
2. Cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is thoroughly combined.
3. Pour mixture into nonstick metal 13- by 9-inch (33cm x 23cm) baking dish.
4. Using rubber spatula, spread mixture to cover surface of baking dish.
5. Set baking dish aside.

Cinnamon-Sugar Filling

• 3/4 cup (1,75 dl) light brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 
• 1 pinch table salt 
• 1 tablespoon or 15g unsalted butter, melted
• Raisins (optional)

1. Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in small bowl.
2. Mix with a fork until thoroughly combined, using fingers to break up sugar lumps.
3. Set aside.

To assemble and bake buns:

1. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface.
2. Gently shape dough into rough rectangle with long side nearest you.
3. Lightly flour dough and roll to 16-inch x 12-inch (40cm x 30cm) rectangle.
4. Brush dough with 1 tablespoon melted butter, leaving 1/2-inch border along top edge; with butter remaining on brush, brush sides of baking dish.
5. Sprinkle filling mixture over dough, leaving 3/4-inch border along top edge; smooth filling in even layer with your hand, then gently press mixture into dough to adhere. Add rasins if you desire.
6. Beginning with long edge nearest you, roll dough into taut cylinder.
7. Firmly pinch seam to seal and roll cylinder seam-side down.
8. Very gently stretch to cylinder of even diameter and 18-inch (45 cm) length; push ends in to create even thickness.
9. Using a serrated knife and gentle sawing motion, slice cylinder in half, then slice each half in half again to create evenly sized quarters.
10. Slice each quarter evenly into thirds, yielding 12 ~1.5 inch (3,75 cm) buns (end pieces may be slightly smaller).
11. Arrange buns cut-side down in prepared baking dish.
12. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and set in warm, draft-free spot until puffy and pressed against one another, about 1 hour.
13. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place pizza stone (if using) on rack, and heat oven to 350F/175C degrees.
14. Place baking pan on pizza stone; bake until golden brown and center of dough registers about 180F/82C degrees on instant-read thermometer, 25 to 30 minutes.
15. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes; invert onto rimmed baking sheet, large rectangular platter, or cutting board.
16. With rubber spatula, scrape any glaze remaining in baking pan onto buns; let cool while making pecan topping.

Pecan Topping

• 3 tablespoons or 50g unsalted butter 
• 1/4 cup (.5 dl) light brown sugar, packed
• 3 tablespoons corn syrup, light or dark
• 1 pinch table salt 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  or vanilla sugar
• 3/4 cup (1,75 dl) pecans or walnuts, toasted in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant and browned, about 5 minutes, then cooled and coarsely chopped

1. Combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, and salt in small saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally to thoroughly combine.
2. Off heat, stir in vanilla and pecans until pecans are evenly coated.
3. Using soup spoon, pour heaping tablespoon of nuts and topping over center of each sticky bun.
4. Continue to cool until sticky buns are warm, 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Pull apart or use knife to cut apart sticky buns; serve.