Due to allergies, I would normally omit pecans from a recipe, if possible, and continue my merry way. But since my husband LOVES sticky buns, and he hadn't had any since before we got married, AND because it was our anniversary last week, I decided to put the pecans on one half of the dough, and make these Caramel Buns our anniversary treat.
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| Caramel Bun Fondue, anyone? |
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| Fully dressed Caramel Bun for hubby. Look at that fluffy texture! |
This will be a short and quick post. I've been really busy and additionally I'm participating in a club-level Toastmasters speech contest tomorrow (for which I have to practice just a little bit more tonight).
Step by step pictures:
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| Sponge |
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| Dough in bread machine. Very soft dough. |
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| Dough after the kneading cycle finished. |
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| Dough after its first rise |
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| Dough after a 24 hour stay in the fridge |
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| Toasted pecans |
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| Left half for me and right half for hubby |
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| Hubby's buns |
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| My buns |
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| Hubby's buns after their final rise |
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| My buns after their final rise |
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| Golden brown and delicious! |
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| Fluffy! |
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| Fluffy! |
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| Hubby's enjoying his Caramel Bun! |
Unfortunately, my caramel glaze crystallized after it had cooled. Hubby noticed that the caramel was "thicker than usual" at which point I let him know about the caramel seizure that occurred. He said, "Sounds like you've lost your touch". If you gasped and then your mouth dropped just now, we're on the same page. "Oh no, he di'int". So I went back into the kitchen and made half a batch of caramel glaze. It was super awesome and delicious!!
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| Caramel Glaze version 2.0 |
Final thoughts/tips:
- Hubby loved these rolls. He said they were soft, sweet enough and liked the crunch from the pecans, on the inside and on top. He could also taste the orange zest I put in the dough and thought it complimented the roll nicely. He gave it a 9 out of 10 rating.
- I loved everything about the recipe (and my changes to it). Will definitely make it again.
- Changes to starter:
- Changes to dough:
- Used one XL egg.
- Added 3-4 Tbsp water.
- Added zest of one large orange.
- Reduced butter to 3Tbsp.
- Added 1 Tbsp full fat sour cream.
- Changes to filling:
- Replaced raisins with more toasted pecans (for one half of the dough).
- For the other dough half, used homemade almond paste, orange zest and a little orange blossom water.
- Skipped the "raisin juice concentrate" glaze.
- Baked the buns in Bundt pans that were sprayed with Baking Spray with Flour (no foil used). Had no issues releasing the buns. Put a tray of boiling water in the oven while the rolls baked. I didn't notice any difference with other cinnamon rolls I've baked without hot water in the oven.
- Don't forget to check out the other Alpha Bakers here.
- I also wanted to share a tip with you on how I store my citrus zest. I mix the zest with some sugar and store it in the fridge. It stays good for weeks/months and doesn't dry out. I keep adding to it.
Your buns and adjustments look wonderful! The 2nd batch of caramel came out perfect and did your husband praise you or kept quiet? LOL! i also keep my zest this way, but somehow I find it still loses a bit of citrusy flavour..compared to fresh..
ReplyDeleteGood to know we both use the same citrus zest storage mechanism :) Compared to fresh, sure. But compared to not having any citrus in the house, it's great!
DeleteI forgot to add Happy Anniversary!! :D
ReplyDeleteThank you :)
DeleteHappy Anniversary to you and your husband! How thoughtful to make something he likes. I like the changes you made and wondered if water/ice would do the same thing. It was tricky getting the ramekins out of the pan without getting burned and the dough did stick to the grooves on the ramekins. So am I understanding this right, you did all the mixing and warm rise in the machine then put the dough in a bowl in the frig and that was it? Did you add sour cream for flavor or texture? They turned out beautiful and look at that caramel sauce!
ReplyDeleteVicki, yes that was it. I love my bread machine for that. I added sour cream for flavor. It gives it a very subtle tang. It also makes the dough softer (I'm assuming because it's acidic).
DeleteAnd thank you Vicki, for the anniversary wishes :)
DeleteThanks Hanaa! Been thinking about getting one.
DeleteHi Hanaa--Sour cream--what a great addition! We can always count on you for innovation! I am so glad you included the tip about storing zest! Happy anniversary! If you have time, stop by and take a look at my result.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michele. I will try to stop by your post as well.
Deleteב''ה
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary! Lucky husband.
"oh no he didn't" - LOL.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the idea of filling these with almond paste - wish I would have thought of that. Great tip on storing zest. I'll have to remember that one. Hope you have a great week.
Patricia @ ButterYum
http://www.butteryum.org/roses-alpha-bakers/2015/3/9/tbb-caramel-buns
So gorgeous! I learned a lot in your step by step!, thank you very much. 😋
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether your husband is related to mine - they seem to have a lot in common :) The buns look very nice!
ReplyDelete