Thursday, March 12, 2009

Thursday’s Culinary Adventure

 

 

Tonight on Thursday’s Culinary Adventure:

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Yes!  Just like the song!!

You know, “One a penny, two a penny…?”

Did you sing the song some time during this adventure, Caitlin?” you ask.

Why yes, yes I did. 

But Brian?  Brian sang the song while dancing a jig.

That’s Culinary Adventure Spirit if I have ever seen it!

I may as well admit to you that I made these buns last night because they take a while with the rising and all. 

You would have figured it out anyway when you saw Joseph’s crusted-blood nose, so I thought that I would come clean.

That’s right, folks, this is a FAMILY Culinary Adventure!

Ready Joseph?IMG_1921 (Does clinging to my hip in glassy-wide-eyed anticipation imply readiness?  If so, then he’s in!)

Ready Brian?

IMG_1922 Excellent.

I got the recipe from this website.

Into a large bowl or mixer, throw:

34 c. warm water

3 Tb. butter

1 Tb. powdered milk

1/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg

1 egg white

3 c. flour

1 Tb. yeast.

-

It should look a little something like this

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For the Record: Flour does not taste good on its own.

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Look at my big boy standing on the chair and “helping!”

IMG_1932 Sigh.

Anyway, mixer this up (or knead by hand) for about two minutes.

Then, add 1 tsp. cinnamon, and continue kneading/mixing for about five more.

Joseph is border-line scared of my mixer,

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so I have to fake enthusiasm the whole time its on to keep things light and positive.

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You will notice that the dough is VERY sticky- don’t over-flour it or else it wont rise!

My Bosch doesn’t do so well with these small batches, so I actually had to take the dough out and knead it by hand for a little while to make sure that it got properly mixed.

At this point Joseph was done helping and was busy sticking things into my locked “breakables” cupboard.  IMG_1920

He knew that if he stuck something into the cupboard and then whined for a while, I would open the cupboard to retrieve his item- thus giving him about 30 seconds to try to get into everything he could.

But, back to the recipe (FAMILY Culinary Adventures have a lot of distractions!):

Put the dough in a warm dry place, covered with a towel, to rise until doubled (about an hour.)

Once it has doubled, IMG_1962 punch the dough down thoroughly,IMG_1965 and then let it sit for 10 minutes.

Divide the dough into 12 equal(ish) balls and place them on a greased 9x13 pan.

This is a cool trick that a nice LDS lady up here taught me-  If you are trying to make dough-balls, like for rolls, you can pinch off the dough in sections by using your index finger and thumb- like so:

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I am making the “okay” sign, and then pinching it off.

This makes the balls pretty smooth, round, and even.

Let your dough balls rise until doubled again- about 30 minutes.IMG_1969

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until brown.IMG_1972

When you remove them from the oven- immediately transfer them to a cooling rack.

I separated the rolls to cool- but I don’t think you have to.

Top with icing of your choice, in the shape of a cross.

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All done!

Taste Testers Say:

Brian:  “These deserve a ‘one-tooth smile’; because they are pretty good, but not great.”

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Weirdo.

Caitlin:  “I want to sleep on you, soft pillows of goodness!”

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Joseph:  Was asleep at this point.  You snooze, you lose baby!

Summary:

I thought that they were delicious, and Brian (who is not a sweets person, remember) thought that they were just okay.

They are, essentially, a sweet bread topped with a tiny bit of icing.  Like a cinnamon roll, maybe.

Here is my only issue:  How can you eat hot crossed buns, when you can’t put the frosting “cross” on them until they are cool? (or else the frosting melts…I've heard…)

Grade: B+

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am pretty sure I wouldn't be able to resist putting the frosting over all of it. A cross of frosting simply isn't enough.

T Rex Mom said...

Very cool - bringing some to brunch? I actually never knew they really existed and if they did what exactly they were.

T Rex Mom said...

Oh, one other thing - 34 cups of water is a lot! I'm not sure if I even have a bowl that fits 2+ gallons of water. What kind of bowl do you have?

Ter said...

I love your culinary adventures. I just wish you were being adventurous in my kitchen so I could sample.

suzy said...

who knew the cross in hot CROSS buns was an actual cross? learn something new each day. Your hair is getting so long and pretty! i love it!

Jenners said...

I just love these cooking posts -- they are always very very amusing!