Cinnamon Buns

Dating back many years, it's public belief that cinnamon buns (or cinnamon rolls) originated in Sweden, where October 4 is known as National Cinnamon Bun Day. As almost every good bread, these once delicate buns arrived in the US some decades later and were disfigured and transformed into a buttered, sticky treat topped with fondant glaze - the way Americans like it.

Well, I can't say I wouldn't like a nice US-style cinnamon bun right now, but given the fact that I still have 37 other bread formulas to try and I am already a few (many) pounds overweight, I decided to lighten up this recipe a little bit. My first decision was to remove the fondant glaze. Yes, it tastes good, but it also brings many calories to the buns. My second decision was NOT to use butter in the cinnamon sugar mix that is used to fill the rolls. I was confident that the dough would be moist enough that the butter wouldn't be needed. In order to compensate for the flavor lost by removing both the fondant and butter, I decided to add sliced almonds to the cinnamon sugar mix.

These cinnamon buns were relatively quick to make - and that's the main reason I chose them as the first bread of the series, since I didn't have time to prepare a sponge, poolish or biga yesterday. Including all 10 stages of bread baking (as described in the book), this bread took me approximately 4 1/2 hours from start to finish, including a 2 hour fermentation and 1 1/2 hours of proofing. It is also a simple recipe that can be easily made using an electric mixer.

Start by creaming butter and sugar using the paddle attachment of your electric mixer. Then, add the egg and mix until smooth. Add flour, yeast, milk and lemon extract (I used vanilla extract) and mix for a couple of minutes. Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat for 10 minutes until the dough passes the membrane test. Put the dough in a bowl coated with vegetable oil, cover it with plastic wrap and let it ferment for 2 hours. After fermenting, shape the dough to a large rectangle (A) and spread the cinnamon sugar mix over it (B), rolling it up (C). Finally, cut the big roll into 3/4 inch buns and arrange them on a baking sheet covered with parchment or wax paper (D). Let the buns proof for 1 1/2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake for 25 minutes. Let them cool for another 25 minutes and they will be ready to be tasted.

A - Shape the dough to a large rectangle

B - Spread the cinnamon sugar mix over the dough

C - Roll the dough up

D - Cut the big roll into small buns and place them on a baking sheet

Unfortunately, I can't publish the exact recipe and instructions here, since this would be a violation of copyright. If you are interested in this particular bread, I recommend you to buy the book and give it a try - you won't regret it.

Effective immediately, I've decided to give all breads a rating based on the baker's opinion: the "baker's rating". But don't get me wrong; If you own the book, you should definitely try all the recipes and decide for yourself which best suit your taste. I am also introducing another concept called the "judge's rating"; it will be a different rating given by someone else (usually my wife) based on the look, feel and taste of the bread, ignoring how many hours the baker (myself) was stuck in the kitchen to get it done.

Before announcing the ratings, I'd like to tell you a little bit about the resulting bread:

The buns were amazingly light and elastic, unlike usual US-style cinnamon buns. They also tasted great, without being too sweet. In fact, I think the balance between sugar, cinnamon and dough was perfect. I could have easily eaten 4 buns, but since I am trying to lose weight, I only ate 3!

And here are the final ratings for these charming "light" cinnamon buns:

Baker's Rating: 7.5 / 10

Judge's Rating: 9.0 / 10

And that is it for the cinnamon buns! Hopefully next week I'll be writing about "focaccia", a wonderful and versatile italian bread. Keep tuned!