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Last active February 2, 2021 10:46
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Extremely soft cinnamon buns

Extremely soft cinnamon buns

This is an original recipe that values softness and longevity above all else. It is vaguely based upon recipes by (in no particular order): Dan Lepard, Magnus Nilsson, Felicity Cloake, Trine Hahnemann, Richard Bertinet.

The primary departure from most other recipes is the use of a tangzhong which allows a relatively high hydration, and very soft, dough. Additionally, the butter is added to the dough after gluten is developed, like in a brioche, rather than in melted form at the outset. A very small portion of rye flour is included both for flavour and for its crumb-softening and anti-staling properties due to the presence of pentosans. A proportion of UK plain flour (around 8% protein) is used as well as bread flour to drop the gluten content slightly in order to make the buns a little less chewy, whilst maintaining the gluten strength necessary for a light and open crumb.

Ingredients

Infused milk

  • 370g milk (ideally whole, semi-skimmed is OK)
  • Seeds from 25 cardamom pods, ground

Tangzhong

  • 25g strong white flour
  • 125g of the infused milk

Dough

  • 325g strong white flour
  • 125g plain flour
  • 25g dark rye flour
  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • Large pinch of salt
  • 5g instant yeast
  • 230g of the infused milk
  • 1 large egg (~60g)
  • 90g very soft unsalted butter

Filling

  • 130g very soft unsalted butter
  • 65g dark muscovado
  • 35g golden caster sugar
  • 10g/4tsp ground cassia (aka sweet cinnamon)

Finish

  • 1 egg
  • 1tsp milk
  • Pinch of salt
  • Demerara or pearl sugar to sprinkle on top

Method

  • Heat the milk and ground cardamom in a small saucepan over a low heat until the milk is scalded (83°C). Cover, leave until fairly cool, then decant into a jug.
  • Wipe out the saucepan. Add the flour and infused milk for the tangzhong, and whisk continually over a medium-high heat until it has thickened into a starchy paste - this will happen quite suddenly. Leave to cool until warm (about body temperature).
  • Mix all of the dry ingredients for the dough in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the egg, and beat it lightly. Add the tangzhong and the infused milk: the recipe accounts for 15g of the milk evaporating during the infusion heating, but you may have more or less; if it's more than 5g either way then make up the difference / hold some milk back. Make sure that all of the ground cardamom makes it into the dough (do not strain).
  • Mix the dough until well-combined - it will be very sticky. Cover with a tea towel and leave for 10 minutes. Knead for 10 minutes until the gluten is well developed (it will be very sticky at first, but persevere), then leave for 5-10 minutes more to allow the gluten to relax a little.
  • Work in half of the softened butter until the dough is completely smooth, then work in the other half.
  • Leave for 40-50 minutes in an oiled container in a warm place until about doubled in size - be careful not to overproof it.
  • Meanwhile, make the filling: cream the butter, the sugars and the cinnamon together until soft and homogeneous, and leave it somewhere warm - it should be as soft as it can possibly be without leaking.
  • Turn out onto a floured surface and punch down the dough thoroughly. Flour the top, then roll/stretch it out to a large rectangle about 5mm thick and a little over 1.5 times as wide as it is high. Throw flour underneath regularly to stop it sticking.
  • Spread the filling evenly over the entire surface of dough. This is quite tricky as the dough is very soft - it's easiest if you use a flexible dough scraper or a palette knife.
  • Fold the leftmost third of the dough across the centre, then fold the right third over this to form a sandwich of three layers. Rotate it so the (new) long axis is along the bench and very lightly roll it to make it an even thickness and shape.
  • Slice off the ragged ends of the dough, then slice the remainder into even strips 2.5cm wide (about 18 of them). It's easy to do this with a ruler and a pizza wheel.
  • Tie each strip into a knot - this video is a very good demonstration. Place the knots either on paper-lined baking trays or into the holes of a non-stick muffin tin.
  • Spritz the buns with water and proof them for about 40-50 minutes, covered (but not in contact with anything) or otherwise prevented from drying out
  • Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C fan (220 non-fan) and prepare the egg wash: beat together the egg, milk and salt, leave for 15 minutes or so, then strain out the chalazae so that the wash is smooth.
  • When the buns are proofed, brush them with the egg wash and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake for 8-10 minutes if on baking trays, 10-15 minutes if in a muffin tin. Leave to cool a bit, but make sure to eat at least one warm.
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