Tuesday, May 15, 2012

TWD- Almond Sticky Buns (the most-time-consuming recipe ever)

Ok, this every other week for TWD has messed me up! I keep getting confused on which week we're off and which week we're on! But since I've missed the last couple recipes, I made sure to check when this one was due! This week was Brioche Pecan Sticky Buns. According to Wikipedia, Brioche is "a highly enriched French sweet roll, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. It is "light and slightly puffy, more or less fine, according to the proportion of butter and eggs"[1] It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust, frequently accentuated by an egg wash applied after proofing." I've had Brioche bread, but not in the form of sticky buns. The bread is light and eggy, slightly sweet.
This recipe starts with making a batch of brioche. Yeast, milk, egg, flour and salt are left to rest for 30 minutes until the top cracks:
After the mixture has rested (one of many rests it will receive), you add sugar and more flour and beat it for 15 minutes:
Add lots of butter and beat it some more. After it's beaten, it needs to rise for a couple hours. Then deflated and refrigerated for a few more hours. Then you take it out and roll it out, dot it with butter, fold it up, roll it again, fold it up again, and then guess what? That's right , it needs to rest again (in the fridge). After that little vacation, you roll it out yet again, sprinkle in some cinnamon/sugar and nuts (I used almonds instead of pecans), roll it up in a log, wrap it and... what? Another rest? This time in the freezer. 
In the meantime, you smash up some butter in a pan, sprinkle it with lots of brown sugar. Remove the log from the freezer and cut it thick slices (I only made half of the brioche dough into rolls and froze the other half).
And what would this step be without another rest? The rolls need to rise for a couple hours:
Then bake at 350 degrees F for what the recipe says 30-40 minutes (mine took less than 20):
Once gorgeous and out of the oven, you immediately invert the pan onto a plate so all that yummy butter and sugar you put on the bottom of your pan is now a gooey and sugary topping.
What? That's right. These are for reals. Although they were major time-consuming, they were raved about by everyone, even my two year old who said, "Mom, can you make these again? They are so, so, so yum." He said that phrase twice. In a row. How can I not make them again for that? With the other half of the brioche dough in the freezer, I guess I'm halfway there!
The recipe will be here-  Lynn of Eat Drink Man Woman Dogs Cat and Nicole of Cookies on Friday

Monday, May 7, 2012

Ruffle Cake

A pink cake outside (and inside) for a two year old. Strawberry cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Mario Kart Cake

A cake for Luke, who turned 4.Loved making this one, this is one of our favorite games!