Brothers

The Ultimate Sticky buns

Pecans, almonds and dried fruit arrives in early December from my brother-in-law and his wife as part of our Christmas gift. He is 6 years younger than my husband. He and his family have lived in Virgin, Utah, east of St.George, for all his life. He stretches a little bit on some words when he speaks, Goood morning or Hooow are ya doooing? He definitely has some Utah accent that my husband lost long ago. Hard working and resourceful. He grows extensive vegetable gardens and orchards, he made a fish pond in his backyard, not for koi but the consumable kind. They can plenty and dried many. He used to sell ‘thumpers’ he caught to a French restaurant. Here is a nice wabbit! He didn’t say that but he is a good businessman too.

My husband made this sticky buns he spotted in Bon Appetite magazine. The aroma from the warmed pecans brings up my memory of the first time I met the teenage brother-in-law. Cute, skinny and blond, he was always very kind to me without over doing it. My husband is a really good story teller and he tells me as if I was there watching it unfold. The story of my brother-in-law‘s awful farm accident and miraculous recovery was the most memorable so far but I heard many charming, heart warming sibling stories too.

Master sweet dough

• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 5 Tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1-3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2-3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces, room temperature. Plus 1/2 Tablespoon melted.

1. Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave until an instant-read thermometer registers 110-115 degree.
2. Transfer milk to a 2 cup measuring cup; stir in 1 tablespoon sugar. Sprinkle yeast over milk and whisk to blend. Let sit until yeast is foamy about 5 minutes.
3. Add eggs, whisk until smooth.
4. Combine remaining 4 Tablespoon sugar, flour and salt in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook.
5. Add milk mixture. With mixer running, add 1/2 cup butter, 1 piece at time, blending well between additions.
6. Knead on medium-high speed until dough is soft and silky, about 5 minutes.
7. Brush a medium bowl with some melted butter; place dough with remaining melted butter; cover with plastic wrap.

The ultimate sticky buns Topping

• 1-3/4 cups chopped pecans about 8 oz.
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread out nuts on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast until fragrant and slightly darkened 10-12 minutes. Let cool completely. Set 1-1/4 cups nuts aside for buns.
2. Melt butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, cream, honey, salt and orange zest.
3. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer until glaze is golden brown and glossy, 3-4 minutes.
4. Pour 1 cup of glaze into baking pan , tilting to coat bottom and sides. Set aside remaining glaze.
5. Sprinkle 1/2 cup toasted pecans over bottom of baking pan and let cool.

Buns

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• Master sweet dough chilled for 2 hours
• All –purpose flour for dusting
• 1 large egg
• Corse salt

1. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and kosher salt in a medium bowl until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes Set it aside.
2. Punch down dough. Transfer to a floured work surface.
3. Roll out the dough 12x16 rectangle about 1/4 inch thick.
4. Spread the cinnamon-sugar mixture over dough leaving a 1 inch plain border on the side farthest from you.
5. Sprinkle 3/4 cup chopped pecans over the cinnamon sugar mixture.
6. Roll dough into a log, tightening as you roll and patting in ends if they began to taper, pinch together the seam where the long side meets the roll to seal.
7. Using a large knife, cut the log into 9 equal pieces. Lightly flour the knife between slices if the dough is too sticky.
8. Turn the buns cut side up and gently pat the top to flatten slightly.
9. Place the buns in prepared pan; space them evenly apart. Buns should not touch each other.
10. Loosely cover pan with plastic wrap or kitchen towel.
11. Let rise in a warm, draft-free area until doubled in size.
12. Arrange a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350.
13. Whisk egg with 1/2 tsp. of water in a small bowl. Brush tops of buns with egg wash.
14. Bake, rotating pan halfway through and tenting with foil if browning too quickly, until buns are golden brown and filling is bubbling.
15. Let cool for 5 minutes then spoon remaining glaze over. Sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans over and let cool in pan on a wire rack.

Another brother-in-law lives in San Antonio Texas. He is 12 years older than my husband. He sometime calls after San Antonio basketball game and brags about how well the team is doing. He will be extra happy that his team won tonight over the Oklahoma team. His easy going personality I like.

Dinner show

My husband and I attend Masashi Sada’s dinner show at Yoshida’s (well known creator of Yoshida’s teriyaki sauce) River View Restaurant last Thursday. The famous singer song writer and author was there for Japan’s earthquake charity event. He sang many of our favorite songs. My husband is a huge fan. He sang along with most of the songs and shed a tear or two. I brought a camera but it was out of batteries! Doh! My husband managed to take photos using his iPhone that was not so great. Here I was right beside him and many others.

Banana Sticky Buns

My husband as a baker

At a grocery store recently, I picked out cooking magazine called ‘fine Cooking’. The magazine cover featured a great looking photo of meatloaf. To me meatloaf does not necessary equal fine cooking but whatever. Another headline said ’ready in 30 minutes! Special Valentine’s Supper’. After reading just that, I’m sold. At home my carb-loving husband was immediately drawn to page70, ‘overnight banana sticky buns with pecans’. Lucky for him,he had everything needed to make this dish. Must be some kind of banana karma as my daughter also put up a banana cake recipe.

It is a kind of challenge to live with person who loves carbohydrate that much and makes such wonderful carb-loaded treats,especially for a person who is trying to avoid it to lose weight. I sometimes wonder how fellow food bloggers like Da stays so thin. If she knows the secret she must share with me ASAP.

For the dough

• 1 pound (about 3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more as needed
• 1 (1/4 oz.) package fast-rising yeast
• 1/2 cup very warm milk or water (about 125F)
• 3/4 cup mashed very ripe banana (about 1 large)
• 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter, melted; more for bowl
• 2 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1-1/4 tsp. salt

For the Filling

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened.
• 1/2 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1-3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup of of the flour with yeast. Stir in the warm milk or water until combined.
2. Cover the bowl and let sit in a warm spot in the kitchen for 30 minutes.
3. Stir the banana, melted butter, sugar, egg, and salt into the yeast mixture until well combined.
4. Stir in all but 1/4 cup of the remaining flour to make a stiff, shaggy dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
5. Knead, folding the dough over onto itself. Sprinkle a small amount of flour onto surface as needed. Keep kneading until the dough becomes smooth and easy to handle.
6. Put the dough in a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 40 to 50 minutes.
   
7. On a lightly floured surface , shape the dough into a rectangle. Roll out into a 16x11 inch rectangle.
8. Spread the softened butter evenly over the dough to within 1/8 inch of the edge.
9. Combine the chopped pecans.brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the butter.
10. Roll up the dough length wise, starting from a long edge and pinch the seam to seal. Flip the dough so that seam side is on the bottom.
11. Trim off and discard 1/2 inch from each end then cut log into twelve 1-1/4 inch pieces (he uses dental floss – not the flavored one – to cut). Cover with plastic wrap.

For the caramel-pecan sauce

• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter. Softened butter for the pan
• 11/2 cups sugar
• 1 large ripe banana, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Generous pinch salt
• 1 cup pecan halves

1. Generously butter a 12-cup standard muffin pan, set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and 1/4 cup warm water. Stir until sugar dissolves – 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Cook the syrup without stirring, until it begins to caramelize- be careful not to burn and don’t panic when syrup starts to crystalize. Gently swirl the pan to help it brown evenly.
4. Once the syrup has turned an amber color, remove the pan from the heat and carefully stir in the banana and cold butter. Then stir in the heavy cream, returning the pan to low heat if the mixture doesn’t smooth out immediately.
5. Add vanilla and salt and stir until smooth. Strain the sauce and discard banana. Let the caramel cool for 15 minutes.
6. Pour about 1-1/2 Tablespoon of caramel into each muffin cup. reserve the rest of the caramel sauce at room temperature.
7. Place a few pecans each in muffin cup.
8. Place the dough slices over sauce and nuts, cut side down. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
9. The next day, remove from refrigerator and let the dough rise in a warm spot until doubled. 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
10. Preheat oven to 350F. Put the muffin pan on a cookie sheet (to catch the caramel if it overflows) and bake until the tops and edges are browned, 20 to 22 minutes.
11. Immediately invert the pan onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Replace any pecans that fell off and let cool for 10 minutes. Reheat the reserved caramel and drizzle over the buns.

It was quite the process but he made amazing sticky-buns. I appreciate his efforts. Thank you fine Cooking!