I'll take baking over therapy any day. I was having a particularly bad day last week and decided to do some baking to turn it around. I'm not sure why baking can turn a bad day into a borderline-good-day, but it works for me, especially if the baking involves yeast. There is something about waiting for a dough to rise that fills me with great contentment. Strange, I know (perhaps it is therapy I need after all).
I took out my terrifically food-stained copy of Nigella's How to Be a Domestic Goddess, and turned to the chapter on bread and yeast. I knew ordinary-old-bread wouldn't cut it, it needed to be something sugary and sweet (remember that a significant part of the healing process is in eating the finished product). Enter.... Norwegian Cinnamon Buns.
Here is the recipe. If you have the book it's on page 322 (and if you don't, shame on you.)
Combine 600g plain flour, 100g sugar, half a teaspoon of salt and 3 sachets of dry yeast (21g). In another bowl whisk 100g melted butter with 400ml of milk and 2 eggs.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix to combine. Next, knead the dough by hand or use a dough hook on your mixer. (I had to add extra flour here as my dough started out looking more like soup.)
Place the dough into an oiled bowl (I just used the mixing bowl from my mixer), cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise for about 25 mins. (Here's where I go and make a cup of tea and start to feel better.)
NB. Ensure no small, hairy animals go sniffing around your dough.
Once your dough has risen, take one third of it and roll it out to fit the bottom of a greased and papered roasting tin (33x24cm). Roll out the rest of the dough onto a floured surface to make a rectangle measuring 50x25cm. (Am I the only one who keeps a ruler in the kitchen?) Spread this dough with a mixture of 150g soft butter, 150g sugar and one and a half teaspoons of cinnamon.
Next, roll this into a sausage shape starting on the long side.
Cut the sausage into 2cm slices and place each piece onto your dough in the tin, cut side up. They don't need to touch as they spread out quite a bit. Brush them with a beaten egg and leave to rise again.
(This time I'm wise to my dog's antics and I put them up high.)
Leave them for 15 mins, and then place in a hot oven (230 degrees) for 20-25mins. Nigella says not to worry if they 'catch' (by which I think she means burn). Mine did a bit, but looked almost identical to the picture in Nigella's book, so as advised, I didn't worry.
They were a sight to behold when they came out of the oven - buttery, glistening and smelling like a Norwegian Bakery (I'm guessing here, as I've never been to Norway, much less been into a Norwegian Bakery).
As soon as they had cooled enough to be touched, we dug in, adding extra butter for good measure.
And, yes, they were truly magical in their healing powers.
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