Ingredients
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1 quantity Croissant
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Butter
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For the Filling
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200 g light Muscovado Sugar
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100 g Caster Sugar
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2 heaped tbsp ground Cinnamon
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120 g Butter
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For the Topping
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140 g Caster Sugar
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½ tsp ground Cinnamon
Directions
This twist on croissants came to us from California. They’re a West Coast invention, and weren’t often seen this side of the pond. Certainly, we’d not come across them until our friend Kit Williams showed us how to make them in the early days of GAIL’s, and it’s no exaggeration to say that our lives haven’t been the same since. Croissant dough works spectacularly in pains au chocolat, pains aux raisins and Danish pastries. But cinnamon buns take the biscuit.
Americans are obsessed with the flavour of cinnamon, but, actually, their preferred spice is cassia (which they call cinnamon). It has a stronger aroma and flavour than ‘true’ cinnamon and the bark is also thicker and tougher. There’s one variety which comes from Vietnam and is particularly superb. We were blown away when Kit introduced us to it. It was love at first sniff. If you can get someone to bring you some from the States, do try it. As with so many other ingredients, until you are confronted with the finest quality, you don’t understand how good they can be. We’re always learning. For the record, cinnamon and cassia are interchangeable in any recipe: it’s all a matter of preference.
Steps
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1
Done
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First, make the croissant dough to the last rolling out. Butter one or two muffin tins with a total of 14 large cups, greasing the flat surface between the cups as well as the cups themselves. |
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2
Done
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Next, make the filling: mix together the muscovado sugar, caster sugar and cinnamon until combined and set aside. |
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3
Done
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On the most spacious kitchen surface you have, roll the chilled croissant dough out to a 30 cm × 80 cm rectangle, 3–4 cm thick. Lay it out in front of you so that the short edges are at the sides. |
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4
Done
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Use a pastry brush to brush the dough with melted butter, leaving a 4 cm-wide border along the top long edges. Sprinkle the filling all over the melted butter, and pat it down so that it begins to dissolve into it. |
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5
Done
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Starting from the long edge closest to you, roll the dough up tightly, like a Swiss roll. Turn it so that it’s sitting on its seam. With a sharp, non-serrated knife, slice the log of dough into 14 equal buns. Take each bun and tug the loose end of the rolled dough out to stretch it very slightly, then tuck it under one of the cut ends of the bun to seal it up – this creates a base for them to sit on. Sit them in the buttered muffin tin(s). |
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6
Done
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The best place to prove the buns is in a completely cold oven. Put them on the centre shelf, along with a small bowl of hot water on the floor of the oven, and shut the door. Leave for 2 hours, until risen and springy to the touch – they won’t double in size. Remove from the oven along with the bowl of water. Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. |
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7
Done
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Place the buns in the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 180°C/gas mark 4. Bake for 25– 30 minutes, until completely puffed and mushroomed over the edges of the muffin cups. They should be a dark, golden brown. |
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8
Done
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Remove from the oven and leave them for 5 minutes, then lift them and sit them slightly askew in their tins to cool further, so that the base of each bun isn’t touching the base of the muffin cup. This allows them to cool without sticking to the cups as the sugar solidifies. |
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9
Done
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Making the topping by mixing the sugar and cinnamon in a large, shallow dish, and when the buns are completely cooled, roll them gently in the topping to coat them in even more sugary, cinnamony goodness. Eat as soon as possible. If you do have any left over, swap them for the croissants in the Croissant Bake (see here), reducing the amount of sugar in the custard by half. You can’t even imagine how good this tastes. |
