Happiness is a cinnamon bun

If there's one thing that'll always cheer me up, it's a cinnamon bun. Yesterday Daughter made these from the Nordic Bakery Cookbook.

They are so delicious I had to freeze some so I wouldn't demolish the whole tin full.

They look pretty similar to the ones in the book?

Fighting the bulge

I’ve never been fat. Nor have I ever been thin. Except when very, very much in love. I’m tall, from good old Nordic blonde, blue-eyed stock. But as the years advance, I’m no longer able hide the increasing bulges behind the jeans-wearing faux athletic appearance.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always kept myself fit. I was an early adopter of jogging, aerobics, then step aerobics. I try to do some kind of exercise twice a week and I couldn’t live without my weekly Pilates sessions.

But I love food. My family love food and we all cook. Now son’s at home from university, we prepare veritable feasts every night and sit together around the table, drinking wine as if we were all on holiday every day. This is lovely, of course it is, but it’s not doing my body shape any favours. The jeans are getting tighter and tighter. This is not a good look.

So a couple of weeks ago I decided I’d step up the gym sessions. But instead of losing weight, I’m gaining it. And no, it’s not muscle. It’s because my mind is also playing tricks on me. Due to the increased exercise I eat even more. And I cook even more calorific treats for us all.

Like the blueberry pie above. It’s divine, especially with strong, black coffee. And, as I told myself when I made it and later when devouring it, the blueberries are good for you.

All I hope is that when son leaves us for his brilliant career in London, and daughter starts her gap year in Finland, I will not be able to justify the baking of cinnamon buns, blueberry pie, home made pasta or Dauphinoise potatoes anymore and will lose my appetite as I pine for my grown up brood.

Roll on empty nest.

Finland in a bun

I was greeted with a lovely smell of baking when I came home tonight. As evidence that daughter is truly on the mend, she's been making cinnamon buns. This is what they looked like.

If I could transport the scent through the ether I would. Divine. They serve these in the Nordic Bakery in Golden Square in W1. Being biased I think the ones daughter makes are far superior. They are smaller, and she keeps them light and not too sweet. Here's the recipe:

250 ml lukewarm milk
100 g caster sugar
25 fresh yeast (or equivalent of dried yeast)
1 egg
125 g melted butter
2 teaspoons ground cardamon seeds (without hull)
1 teaspoon salt
650 g plain flour

For the filling:
ground cinnamon
sugar
soft butter
Activate the fresh yeast in the milk. This takes up to 10 minutes depending on the quality of the yeast. If using dried yeast mix it in to the dry ingredients. Add the egg, butter, cardamon and salt and finally slowly mix in the flour to make a dough. Knead until it's soft and pliable. Prove the dough for about 1-2 hours until doubled in size. (If using dried fast acting yeast you can make the buns straight away).
When the dough has proven, roll it out to an oblong of about 2-3 mm in thickness. If you find it easier you can do this in batches, as long as one oblong piece is about 30 x 35 cm. The larger the oblong, the larger the buns and the more layers they'll have.
With a knife, spread some butter on the dough, just as if you'd be making a sandwich. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Then, starting at the long end of the oblong fold the dough on itself. You should end up with a tightly packed roll. Cut the buns out on the diagonal with a sharp knife, alternating right left, so that you end up with cone-like shapes. Now stand each piece on it's fat side, and press down the middle of the thin edge with the blunt end of a knife. They should now look like smaller versions of the picture above.
Let the buns prove for another half an hour on baking parchment. Bake, spaced well apart, in 180 C oven for about 20 minutes, depending on their size. Before putting them in the oven, you can also brush them with a whisked egg, and sprinkle with sugar. If you can get hold of sugar cubes, crumble these and add instead of the normal stuff. Either way, they'll come out delicious.
In Finland these little treats are called Korvapuusti, which also means a slap around the ears. Why, I have no idea!
Hope you enjoy, I'm just off to make a cup of coffee with mine.