what i did on my summer vacation: day 4

this was meant to be driving-and-movie-and-roast-chicken day, and it would have been perfect for it - pelting rain, no desire to swim. oh well.

instead, it became baking day - and here is where the number of blog posts outstrips the number of actual vacation days, because there was a lot of food produced this one day!

because we'd bought wood-fired-oven sourdough bread at the farm, i decided that instead of bread i'd make cinnamon buns. and because i didn't bring the recipe, i took the quick-rise (from start to finish in under 3 hours) white bread recipe i'd been planning to use from the joy of cooking and adapted it by making the dough richer (egg! sugar! more butter! more milk!). they were a lovely afternoon treat on a rainy afternoon, and i froze a few after shaping and rising, so they also made a tasty breakfast on our last day!



cinnamon buns

dough:
3 cups hard flour
1 cup milk
3 tbs butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1 package yeast (1 1/2 tsp)
1 egg

filling:
1 cup brown sugar
2 tbs butter, melted
2 tbs flour
1 tbs cinnamon

warm the flour in a slow (150f) oven.

combine the milk and butter in a small saucepan; heat over low until the butter is just melted. add sugar and salt and stir to dissolve.

stir yeast into warm flour. add milk mixture and egg. stir in and knead till elastic (3 minutes). rest 10 minutes.

roll dough out into a large rectangle 1/4" thick.

combine all filling ingredients and spread across dough, leaving a clean strip along one short edge. roll up dough starting with the opposite short edge, and pinch closed.

slice into 1" lengths, and stand these upright in a well-buttered dish. allow to double in a warm place.

back in a hot oven (400f) for about 20 minutes or until brown.