black bottom cinnaburns
Last week, I got pay back for laughing at Jenn's (Leftover Queen) misfortunes. There I was just hitting "send" on my reply to Susan's (Wild Yeast) hilarious account when I realized how much time had gone by since I had put the buns in the oven. And smelled that unmistakable smell of sugar. Burnt sugar....
It really was too bad too. The buns were going to be fantastic! In the recipe, I had used about 1½ cups of wild starter (around 750gm on my rotten scale) and only ¼ tsp active dry yeast rather than the 2½ tsp of active dry yeast called for. I also reduced the amount of water to 1¾ cup rather than 2 cups. (1 cup milk, ¾ water) Here is the recipe I followed to make 16 buns:
The resulting dough was beautifully silky and elastic and rose only a tiny bit slower than the commercial yeast versions. In fact, I was a little sorry that I had added any commercial yeast at all.
And I did set the timer.... (I did!!!)
Amazingly, once most of the black had been scraped off, the buns were delicious!
...perhaps I should always burn them on the bottom (bite my tongue!!!)
(Next time I make the buns, I think I'll use only wild yeast. And when I put the buns in the oven, I'll set two timers. Maybe three....)
(There are a few more photos at blog from OUR kitchen)
Comments
It looks like you baked them in glass ramekins. I don't know what the recipe calls for, but glass makes a difference in baking. I have always read to lower the oven temperature 25 degrees for glass. Why not put them into cake pans?
I baked all but two of the buns on parchment covered jelly roll trays, Ramona. There wasn't room for two of the buns on the trays so I put them into pyrex custard bowls. And of course, you're right about pyrex baking at a different temperature. My plan (if I'd heard the bell) was to check the pyrex buns first.
But I really don't think the burning had anything to do with the container(s) used. It had everything to do with the fact that I didn't hear the bell and lost track of the time. (I have no idea really how long the buns were in the oven.)
Also, next time, I will remember to put them on the uppermost shelf of the oven (as per my note to myself from the second to last time I made them). I was so thrilled and excited with myself for succeeding with the wild yeast that I foolishly baked this particular batch on the second to the top shelf. However, I suspect that if the bell had rung, there would have been no black to scrape off.
-Elizabeth
So many errors to make and so little time to get them all in.... :-D
I'm not sure which timer is better - the one that clips to my collar, so I'll hear it wherever I am, or the one that has a most annoying sound that continues for at least a minute if I don't get up and turn it off. I'd like to say that between the two of them, I never burn anything, but I'd be lying!
The cinnamon bun recipe looks very interesting, as do the Lucia Cats. It's probably a good thing for my waistline that I don't have time to bake as much as I would like to. At any rate, I've bookmarked both of them.
I have one of those really annoying kind that ring for 60 seconds too - but I thought I was smart enough to pay attention to the single bell version (silly me)
And I DID set it... it didn't go off! (stomp stomp stomp ;-))
Both the cinnamon buns and the Lucia Cats are fabulous, KipperCat. Lucia Cats might be fractionally better for your waistline because they don't use quite as much butter. Do let me know if you make either or both of them. I'd love to hear what you think.
I will definitely be making Lucia Cats for Christmas Day - my husband has put in an order for them for Christmas breakfast.... (I don't think I'll get it together to make them for Santa Lucia Day on Dec 13 though)
-Elizabeth