Sticky caramel buns

A couple of weeks ago the lovely Ana Elisa and I had coffee together and it was so good! We talked a lot, discovered several things in common... I already liked her in the virtual world and confirmed that she is a dear in the real world, too. :)

Then I saw that she’d drawn me on her Moleskine and that made my day. :)

Breads remind me of Ana – she’s an expert in making them – and that is why I’m posting these buns, which I adapted from here.

Sticky caramel buns
adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Dough:
5g dried yeast
2/3 cup (160ml) lukewarm whole milk
2 ½ cups (350g) all purpose flour
7 cloves
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (140g) unsalted butter, softened
extra butter and brown sugar, for the pans

Caramel spice mix:
1/3 cup + ½ tablespoon (82g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup (58g) brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground allspice

Caramel glaze:
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
1 ½ tablespoons (21g) unsalted butter, coarsely chopped

Combine yeast with half the milk (1/3 cup) in a bowl, stir until yeast dissolves, then stir in 2 ½ tablespoons (25g) of the flour until smooth. Cover and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (30 minutes).
Meanwhile, combine cloves and 3 tablespoons boiling water in a heatproof bowl, cover and stand to infuse (15-20 minutes), strain and reserve liquid.
Combine sugar, orange zest, butter, remaining flour, remaining milk and yeast mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix until a rough dough forms (2-3 minutes), then add a little reserved clove liquid at a time, kneading until a smooth sticky dough forms (4-5 minutes; you may not need all the liquid). Transfer to a large buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (45 minutes-1 hour).

Meanwhile, for caramel spice mix, combine ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F. Knock back dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an 18cm x 50cm (7x20in) rectangle – the dough was very tender, so I rolled it on a large piece of lightly floured baking paper, which was very useful to roll the dough into a cylinder. Spread evenly with caramel spice mix and, with longest side facing you, roll into a cylinder. Cut into 12 even pieces and place each piece, cut-side up, in a canelé mould well buttered and heavily dusted with brown sugar*. Place molds on an oven tray and stand for 10 minutes, then bake until risen and golden (25-30 minutes; cover with foil if buns get too dark). Turn out of moulds immediately (be careful of hot caramel) and cool on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, for caramel glaze, combine sugar and 1/3 cup (80ml) water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Cook until dark caramel (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat, add butter and ¼ cup (60ml) water (be careful; hot caramel may spit) and stir to combine. Serve buns warm or at room temperature, topped with caramel glaze.
Sticky caramel buns are best eaten on day of making.

* I used twelve 1/3 cup (80ml) capacity muffin pans

Makes 12