Sticky Buns

I was so impressed with the bread sticks that I made last week, using the Water Roux Method, that I decided to try making some Sticky Buns this week. If you haven’t tried this method yet - - well, you’ve just got to!

Sticky- Sticky Buns

tang zhong (water-roux):
25 g (.89 oz.) bread flour
125 ml (1/3 c.) water

Bread Dough:

210 g (7.4 oz.) bread flour
56 g (2 oz.) cake flour
20 g (.71 oz.) milk powder
42 g (1.5 oz.) super-fine sugar
1/2 t. salt
6 g (.21 oz.) instant yeast
30 g (1.1 oz.) egg - lightly beaten (about half an egg, -reserve the leftover for egg wash)
85 g (3 oz.) water
84 g (3 oz.) tang zhong - (water-roux)
22 g (.78 oz.) unsalted butter

Cinnamon Filling:

1/2 c. bread flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. ground cinnamon
3 T. butter
3 large egg whites (1 at a time)

Sticky Bun Bottom Glaze

6 T. light brown sugar
3 T. butter
1 1/2 T. corn syrup
1 T. heavy cream
pinch of salt

Topping:

1/4 c. packed light brown sugar (about 1 3/4 oz.)
3 T. butter
3 T. corn syrup
pinch salt
1 t. vanilla extract
3/4 c. pecans, toasted and chopped coarse

Tang Zhong (water-roux):
To make tang zhong (yields about 90g tang zhong):
Place 25g (.89 oz.) bread flour in a saucepan. Add 125ml (1/3 c.) water, mix till smooth, making sure there are no lumps of flour. Cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly with a hand whisk to prevent it from burning. Within 1 to 2 mins, the mixture will start to thicken, stop when you see traces in the mixture for every stir you make with the hand whisk and the mixture reaches 150⁰ F. Immediately transfer the hot tang zhong into a bowl and cover it with a cling wrap, making sure the cling wrap sticks onto the surface of the mixture. This is to prevent a film from forming on the surface. Leave to cool completely before using it.

To Make Dough:
Mix all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add in the egg, water and 84 g (3 oz.) tang zhong. Mix to form a rough dough. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Knead the dough till smooth. This should take about 10 mins. The dough is quite wet and sticky, it helps to have a dough scraper on hand to scrape up the dough as you knead.
Knead in the butter. Continue to knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hand, becomes smooth and elastic. This should take about another 20 to 30 mins. Do the window pane test: pinch a piece of the dough, pull and stretch it. It should be elastic, and can be pulled away into a thin membrane without tearing/breaking apart easily. (I use my KitchenAid mixer to mix the ingredients together. It makes it a LOT easier.)
Place dough in a lightly greased (use vegetable oil or butter) mixing bowl, cover with cling wrap and let proof (around 80⁰ F.) for about one hour, or until double in bulk. (I use my microwave as a proofing chamber. Place a 2 cup measuring cup with water in it and heat for about 3 minutes so steam and heat are created in the oven. Place the bowl of dough in the microwave until double in bulk.)
Remove the dough from the bowl and give a few light kneading to press out the gas in the dough. Roll the dough into a rectangle, about 11.5 inch by 10 inch. Spread Cinnamon Filling over dough.

Cinnamon Filling:
Mix together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in the bowl of a mixer. Add the butter to the four mixture. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for 1 minute, or until it looks like coarse meal and there are no visible chunks of butter.
With the mixer on medium speed, add the egg whites one at a time. Continue to mix until fully combined, scraping down the bowl as necessary. Refrigerate until ready to use.
From the longer end (11.5 in.), roll up the dough to form a long log (ie 11.5 inches in length). Pinch the edges to seal. Place the log seam side down, trim off the two ends. Cut the roll into 9 equal pieces. (To get even rolls, use a dental floss to slice the log. Position a long string of dental floss under the log, hold the two free ends, criss-cross over the top of the log, pull the two ends to cut the roll.

Sticky Bun Bottom Glaze
Combine all ingredients in small saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until butter is melted and mixture is thoroughly combine. Pour mixture into 9x9 baking pan. Using rubber spatula, spread mixture to cover surface of pan; set aside.
Grease your pan(s), or spray with non-stick vegetable oil spray.
Arrange the rolls cut-side up in a 9 x 9-inch square pan or any suitable baking tray. Leave some space in between the rolls to allow them to expand. Cover with damp cloth or cling wrap and leave doughs to proof for the second time for about 50-65 mins, or until double in size.
Brush top with egg wash (mix leftover egg with 1 T water) and sprinkle with Turbinado Sugar or regular sugar. Bake in pre-heated oven at 355⁰ F. for 20-30 mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn over onto serving tray. With rubber spatula, scrape any glaze remaining in baking pan onto buns; let cool while making pecan topping.

Topping:
Combine sugar, butter, corn syrup, and salt in small saucepan and bring to simmer over medium heat, whisking occasionally to thoroughly combine. Off heat, add vanilla and pecans and stir until pecans are evenly coated. Using soup-spoon, spoon heaping tablespoon pecans and topping over center of each sticky bun. Continue to let cool until sticky buns are warm, 15 to 20 minutes. Pull apart or use serrated knife to cut apart buns and serve. Print this post