short&SWEET: Day 3 - Cinnamon Rolls & Blueberry Buckle

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Our THIRD baking session:

So here we are again, our theme this week is breakfast! We decided to make cinnamon buns and a blueberry buckle (thanks JOYCE for your recipe).. obviously not something to have every day but it will be nice to make on a special occasion such as for Christmas morning (if it all goes well)!

We started with the cinnamon buns. First we heated the milk until small bubbles started to form around the edges. We then took it off the heat and added a small amount of sugar and a package of yeast. Meanwhile we got our other dry ingredients ready [flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon.] We poured the liquid into the dry ingredients and mixed it with the dough hook until it came together into a ball. Then it had to sit in a bowl to rise for about an hour and fifteen minutes.

In the meantime we started the blueberry buckle. We mixed together the batter [flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.. all the basics] then added the blueberries. The mixture was smooth with the small, plump, berries peaking through. Next, we made the crumb topping [our favorite!] which had sugar, cinnamon, flour and butter. We poured the mixture into a greased pan and sprinkled the crumbs on top. We put this into the oven to bake for 40 minutes. The kitchen smelled delicious and the the cake puffed up nicely in the oven.

The dough for the cinnamon buns had risen and we were ready to roll it out. We rolled it out into a square [sort of] and brushed it with a little bit of butter. Next came the filling. We sifted a mixture of sugar and cinnamon over the top of the dough and began rolling the dough up into a log. We cut 1/2" pieces to create the cinnamon rolls. We placed each cut piece into a greased pan and let it sit to rise yet again [we were beginning to get impatient because they looked soo good, we were ready for them to be done!]

The blueberry buckles came out of the oven and they looked amazing! The top was slightly brown and we could see bits of the cooked blueberry bubbling through the crumb topping. We cut into the cake and it was light and fluffy. It was the perfect balance of crust, blueberries and cake! If you ever need to go to a brunch - this is the perfect thing to bring - easy enough to make and so delicious!

Just before the cinnamon buns came out, we whisked together the icing [confectioners sugar, a little melted butter, heavy cream and a touch of vanilla]. We drizzled the cinnamon buns with the frosting and they looked divine. We tried a piece of one and it was awesome - even better than the ones you've ever had in the mall!

Could today have been any better?!! Both of the confections we made today were perfection, in our opinion! Now it's time to give away our treats.. although this time it shouldn't be too difficult [we refuse to keep any extra in our houses!]

It's funny how having one successful day makes you so excited for the next time! Our next task is to find recipes that will come out just as good or better than these! Stay tuned..

Putting the yeast in the hot milk