I had a baking urge the other day. A real baking urge. And, surprisingly, I wanted to try making my own dough. First round, TOTAL FAIL. The dough did not rise, at all! So I tossed that lot and tried again.
Now I have a wonderful friend in the kitchen by the name of Meredith. She is my thermomix. She is wonderful. And I love her. She makes everything from sorbet in two minutes, too curries, and yes, dough. So when I found this recipe, I had to adapt it to the thermomix. Sometimes tricky, sometimes a dream. And this one… a dream!
Dough
4 1/2 – 5 cups all-purpose/plain flour
1 package (7 grams or 2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 cup (240 ml) milk
1/3 cup (75 grams) unsalted butter
1/3 cup (66 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) salt
3 large eggs
Filling
3/4 cup (160 grams) packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup (35 grams) all-purpose/plain flour
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cold (cut into pieces)
Method
♥ In the bowl of your electric mixer, combine the yeast and 2 1/4 cups of flour. You just want to mix the ingredients together.
{3 seconds on speed 3}
♥ In a small saucepan, heat the milk, butter and sugar. Stirring constantly until the mixture is just warm.
♥ Slowly pour the hot mixture into the flour mixture, with the mixer on low speed.
{10 seconds on speed 7}
♥ Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg well throughout the mixture as you go. Once all the eggs are in, beat on a higher speed for about three minutes until well combined.
{2 minutes on speed 7}
♥ Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook (or knead by hand), and knead in as much of the remaining 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 cups of flour until you have a soft dough that is smooth and elastic, but not sticky. – The trick here is to add the flour gradually and feel the dough. I actually found I needed to add more flour once I took the dough out of the mixer. Kneading it, adding a little more flour, until it was no longer sticky. You will find you will need all the flour, if not a little more.
{Set dial to closed lid position and knead for 2 to 3 minutes on interval setting}
♥ Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled. This took about 1 1/2 hours for me. Cover with plastic wrap.
♥ While dough is rising, prepare your filling.
♥ Break up any lumps in the sugar. Mix in the cinnamon with your hands. Add the butter.
♥ Using your fingertips, break up the butter and mix in the ingredients until you get a nice crumby texture. It does not have to be smooth or perfect. Put aside.
♥ Roll the dough out into a 30cm square. Lightly brush one end of the dough with some milk to seal the dough once rolled.
♥ Lay the sugar mixture out roughly and evenly.
♥ Roll the dough to form a log, starting at the end opposite the edge you brushed with milk. Don’t roll too tightly as the mixture will come out the sides while cooking.
♥ Cut the log into 8 pieces.
♥ Grease a glass baking dish and lay out the pieces evenly, making sure there is a little gap between each piece. Brush the pieces with milk.
♥ Bake in a 190 degree celcius oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until lightly brown.
♥ Let stand for 5 minutes before removing them onto a tray to cool.
Note: These are best eaten straight away. You could alternatively make the dough and buns and leave covered in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking.
