Tuesday, May 27, 2008

A sticky situation (TWD)



Despite what I said last weekend about avoiding time-consuming recipes for breakfast, I did it again.  But it was for a good cause--this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.  What was on the menu this week?  Pecan Honey Sticky Buns, courtesy of Madam Chow's Kitchen.  

As is too often the case, I was getting down to the wire in making the sticky buns.  I had to work Saturday, and we had a wedding to go to on Sunday, so I knew I wouldn't be able to make them before Monday morning (yay! for holidays).  I did remember to start the dough fairly early Sunday evening, so I'd have enough time for it to rise and be "slapped down" in the fridge before I went to bed.  And as with when I made this dough for the Brioche Raisin Snails, thank goodness for my Kitchen Aid mixer!  I know a number of people made the dough by hand, but it is so much easier to just let the mixer do its thing on my counter.  That way I could work on dinner at the same time, pausing occasionally to toss in another piece or two of butter.  

Monday morning I pulled the dough out of the fridge to divide it in half.  I really thought that I'd put the weight of the dough into my notes (in my paper notebook) last time, but I couldn't find it.  The whole batch weighed about 41 ounces.  I set aside half of that for the sticky buns. Last time I used the extra dough to make brioche rolls.  I'm not sure yet what I want to do with the rest of this batch, so I put the second half into a ziploc bag and tossed it into the freezer.  

I knew I didn't want to make 15 or 16 buns, so I decided to go with half and use an 8 inch square pan.  I made half the glaze, and only put pecan halves on about two-thirds of the pan, since I know Brianna doesn't like nuts.  I rolled out the dough that I'd set aside, spread the butter over it, and sprinkled it with the cinnamon sugar.  I had to work quickly, since the dough gets a bit harder to work with as it warms up.  I rolled the dough into a log as directed and used my handy dental floss (regular unwaxed) to cut 8 buns from half of it.  I put the buns cut-side up on top of the glaze in the pan.  I wrapped the rest of the dough log and put it in my freezer for another time.  

I put the pan in the oven, and then realized that I forgot to put it on a sheet pan as Dorie directed.  So I took it back out and put it on the pan before putting it back in the oven.  I wish I'd just left it alone.  At about 25 minutes, the buns looked quite brown on top, and I thought they were done.  After waiting a couple minutes for most of the bubbling to die down, I flipped the buns onto a plate.  That's when I discovered that they weren't as done as I thought.  Argh! The ones in the center, in particular, weren't all the way baked.  I stood there for a minute, trying to figure out what to do.  I decided that they had to go back in.  So you can just imagine me here in my kitchen, trying to figure out how to get the buns back into the pan, glaze-side down, without getting molten sugar all over myself.  I finally managed it with only a small burn on my finger, and stood there, consoling myself by eating the goo left on the plate, while the buns baked for another ten minutes.  They ended up a bit darker than I would have liked, but at least they were cooked.  I swear, I'm going to quit putting pans on another sheet pan to bake, no matter what Dorie says.  Most of the time it just doesn't work for me.


Anyway, the verdict?  I don't know if I'll make this exact recipe again.  I love the brioche dough. I enjoyed the sticky glaze and the pecans.  But the two together were just too rich for my taste. I'd like to make the sticky buns with a different dough (maybe with the one that I used for the cinnamon rolls) to see if I like that better.  And the brioche is fabulous all by itself.  As for the already prepped dough log in my freezer, it'll most likely end up as cinnamon rolls.  

Don't forget to check out the blog roll over at the Tuesdays with Dorie site to see how everyone else fared! 


24 comments:

  1. Gotta love the trusty KA mixer! Those look great!

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  2. They look great. Mine took a lot longer to bake than the directions said they would, but luckily, everything turned out OK.

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  3. My sons voted for the plain version and agree with you opinion. Yours look great! The poor KA had to work hard I think.

    Ulrike from Küchenlatein

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  4. Sometimes you can't go with the over the top version, can you? I bet just plain cinnamon rolls would be just perfect.

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  5. True that you could combine recipes to find exactly what you like! They look great though!

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  6. They look great! I also ignore the put-baking-pans-on-a-baking-sheet admonition; unless something is in danger of bubbling over, it has never seemed necessary to me.

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  7. You've got some great looking buns, lady! ;-)

    I totally agree this is a high maintenance breakfast food, but well worth it, no? I made my rolls in a 8-in square pan too and it worked perfectly!

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  8. You and me both about the putting things on baking sheets. Then again, I tend to ignore lots of directions that seem fussy to me (like the long beating between butter adding for example). Always trust your instincts over an odd direction, it's usually worth it. They look really good!

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  9. Gotta love the KA. Sugar burns are the worst hope your finger is ok! Sticky buns look great!

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  10. These look delicious! I had quite a similar experience trying to get these made in a busy week! Great Job!

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  11. Your honey bear looks very authoritative presiding over those pecans! They look great!

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  12. ooh, hope the burn wasn't too bad, what a mess getting that back in the pan must have been! but your sticky buns look great!

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  13. they look great! sorry you didn't love them, but hopefully you'll find your ideal bun balance next time :)

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  14. I am realizing more and more that you gotta go with your baking gut! I hope you try out your variation. I bet it will be yummy!
    Clara @ I♥food4thought

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  15. Mine took longer to bake too. Yours look fabulous! Great job!

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  16. That top picture is soooooo tantalizing. I sympathize with you having to scoop it all back into the pan - what a nightmare!

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  17. Those came out beautifully! I wish I'd figured out a way to put mine back in too, but next time! My brioche loaf did the same thing, but I put foil over it with 10 minutes to go and it worked fine. I need to add a note to all the buns to do that :)

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  18. Mmmm, that top pic looks good. I've got to try your cinnamon roll recipe...

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  19. The more I read - the more I am determined to try this recipe again. I had issues to say the least. Yours look great though!

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  20. I'm there with ya when putting pans on another baking sheet...never works for me either. Nonetheless, nice recovery, and you ended up with delicious looking buns!

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  21. They look perfect! I agree though that the glaze would be wonderful with another dough.

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  22. they look fabulous!! my KA mixer decided to croak once the dough was done...boooohooo!!

    i always put my metal pans on a sheet, our oven is a little crazy so it helps with premature browning.

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