Sunday, March 15, 2015

Homemade cinnamon buns

I've always been intimidated by any yeast dough, especially cinnamon buns. They're time consuming, messy, delicious, oh & did I mention, TIME CONSUMING! 

I stumbled upon Americas test kitchens quicker cinnamon bun recipe and decided to give it a shot. By doubling the amount of yeast and baking powder, the dough only needs 30 minutes to rise. So why not?!

Little did I know I could make and bake them and even eat them all within 2 hours! But honestly that's not even the best part about these buns. They're soft and fluffy, yet cakey and goeey. Mmm you should make them right now! 



Americas test kitchen's
::quicker cinnamon buns::

For the filling
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 T cinnamon
1/8 t salt
2 T unsalted butter, melted (I always use salted, though.)
1 t vanilla extract

For the dough
1&1/4 cups of whole milk, room temp.
4 t instant or rapid rise yeast
2 T white sugar 
2&3/4 cups all purpose flour 
2&1/2 t baking powder 
3/4 t salt
6 T unsalted butter, melted 

Glaze.
3 oz cream cheese, room temp
2 T unsalted butter, melted
2 T milk
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/8 t salt
1 cup confectioners sugar; sifted

Make the buns;
Combine all of the filling ingredients until it resembles wet sand. Set aside.

Grease and line a 9" dark cake pan, top with parchment paper, and grease again. Microwave a 1/4 cup of milk for 15-20 seconds. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Stir until combined and let it sit until bubbly - about 5 minutes.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder and remaining 5 teaspoons of sugar. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the melted butter, yeast mixture, and 1 cup of milk. Mix until the dough forms. It will be a little sticky. Kneed on a floured surface until a smooth ball forms.


Roll the dough out into a 12 by 9" rectangle (as pictured above). Brush the dough completely with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle the entire sheet of the dough with the filling mixture and press it into the dough. Roll the dough away from you into a log, pinching the seam to seal.



Cut the log into 8 equal pieces and put them into the 9" prepared pan. Brush the buns with the remaining melted butter, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the buns rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350•F

Remove the plastic wrap and bake the buns until brown, about 25-28 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer to a plate. 

To make the glaze, mix all of the ingredients in the mixer and slowly add the sugar. 

Top the buns with the ooey gooey glaze and enjoy! 


Yellow butt(::)n

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

November 9th; A naked wedding cake.

I had the honor of baking for my best friends wedding this past fall. When she got engaged, we had talked about me baking the cake for them. I was honestly a little nervous because I only ever bake wedding cupcakes with a small bride and groom cake.

She told me she wanted a naked wedding cake. Who doesn't?! They're beautiful, simple, and rustic. Plus, her and Adam preferred no icing so this seemed like the perfect cake! She said that I could have total freedom with the flavors, but we decided to stick with all vanilla and raspberry jam. Mm

I spent a month trying to find the best! vanilla sponge cake. Ugh, that was a disaster. Night after night I would bake new recipes and just throw them into the trash. It wasn't until I decided to try Joy Of Baking. FINALLY! The search was over. A recipe similar to a pound cake, yet still light. Was this for real?

Indeed it was. I decided to bake a trial cake at 10pm, fill and decorate it at 6am and bring it to work where we could all try it. Whew. I was so relieved when the cake was just crumbs left on plate. 

Long story short, this vanilla cake is the bomb. And I'm choosing to share it with you!




3 cups AP flour, sifted
1T baking powder
1/2 t. Salt
1 cup (2 sticks) room temperature butter
1 & 3/4 cups of sugar
4 large eggs 
2 t. Pure vanilla extract
1 cup of whole milk, room temperature

Full recipe and video posted below!
http://m.joyofbaking.com/cakes/VanillaCake.html


Yellow Butt(::)n

Sunday, March 8, 2015

Hey.



Hey. Hey. Hey.

It's been about 8 months since my last post and tonight I was simply inspired to blog again (or at least attempt to).

I have all the time in the world to blog. REALLY. I do. Besides working, being a wife, & a homemaker, if I cut out watching some tv (like the bachelor, ugh) I would be able to post more haha!

This is a wedding cake that I baked this past September for a lovely couple. They had an outdoor tented wedding at their families house. Mason jars, sunflowers l, and lights strung above. It was beautiful.

More to come...

Yellow butt(::)n