Sticky buns with apricots, pistachios and cardamom - a Daring Bakers challenge

It's time to come out of the closet and reveal that I have joined the illustrious ranks of Daring Bakers founded by Lisa and Ivonne - an ever-growing group of food bloggers who set themselves a challenge in the baking department once a month and all blog about their experiences with the chosen recipe on the same day. Well, the day has come.
It wasn't easy for me, I have to admit, as this goes completely against how I normally function: I tend to see recipes, mull them about in my mind for a little while and then set about re-creating them, with more or less variation. Sometimes, the end product will be very close to the original, in most cases, it'll differ quite a lot. There are very few recipes that I follow by the book, but that's exactly what the DB challenge is all about: you get a recipe, you make it. End of story. Very little room to stray from the set path.
Luckily, the recipe Marce chose for September is something I like a lot: cinnamon buns. Well, they're most commonly called Chelsea buns around here and I guess every nation as a similar version that they call by a different name: a simple yeast dough rolled out and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar (in Austria we often use nuts and raisins as well), rolled up, then cut into individual buns which you either bake on a sheet or neatly arranged in a baking mould. Since I had posted a similar recipe for apple & cinnamon Chelsea buns not too long ago, I decided to go for option B in the DB challenge: sticky buns. I'd never even heard of those before, but they were certain to please as I am a s***** for anything involving something even remotely ressembling caramel.
Sticky buns are made in the same way as cinnamon buns, but they are arranged in a mould that has been spread with a sugar & butter mixture which will turn into a gooey and sticky mess in the baking process... out of the oven, the buns are flipped onto a plate with all that gorgeous caramel running down the sides of it and me burning my finger for sure, as I can't resist tasting it straight away. Oh yes! Just the ticket! Making the most of the only bit of leeway given, I altered the recipe just slightly, going for fresh yeast instead of dried and playing around with the toppings: sprinkling the rolls with chopped dried apricots and pistachios and using cardamom instead of the cinnamon. Which I liked a lot. It would seem that Helen and I were on one wavelength this month as she also went for the cardamom and pistachio thing, but it was cranberries for her, not apricots - rather clever, I thought, as the red berries stick out much more, whereas my apricots somehow get lost (visually) in all that caramel... something to remember for next time.
I had a great time making these buns (and an even better time eating them) - despite some initial hick-ups. Baking with yeast, of course, is a rather lengthy process what with all the proving and rising and resting. Not unusual for me, I left it rather late and only had a small window one morning to prepare the dough. And what would you know, I always have some butter in the freezer as my idea of a nightmare is to be sitting in front of some freshly baked bread and not have any butter to spread it with - but sure enough, the moment I need to prepare some dough in a rush, the only butter I can find is salted! I still used it for the sticky glaze, with all that sugar, you only got a hint of salt, a bit like in caramels with fleur de sel. Meanwhile, my husband was sent on a mission to find some butter nearby ("Whatever you buy, just don't buy Lurpak!") and, without knowing it, returns with some more salted butter! I also had no golden syrup and didn't think my home-made cough syrup's onion and thyme flavour would go so well with the recipe... so I used agave syrup instead - all the better since I have been meaning to find a way to use it for ever and a day.
The biggest stumbling stone was the recipe itself: being a firm believer in the metric system, I just never work with cup measures - something I'll have to get used to with the DB challenges, I guess! This one even listed volume AND weight (imperial system), but I don't really trust it, having seen too many where the metric version wasn't really tested properly.  The day I need to complete my challenge, though, my scales stop working half-way through the recipe (note to self: buy a truck-load of 2032 batteries so this won't happen again, ever!), so I had to start all over again, this time resorting to cups and sort of winging it. (To be able to give my readers a metric version, I have weighed all ingredients in retrospect). So, with the dough in the oven to rest, I go out and set about my normal routines, thinking that it won't do the dough any harm to rest a bit longer than the requested two hours. Wrong. Well, sort of. The dough didn't mind, but my oven (which I tend to use for proving) did, not finding it remotely funny that all that sticky, yeasty mass slowly crawled out of its container and went for a leisurely walkabout over the racks and oven door and... well, pretty much everywhere!
Desperate not to start from scratch again, I rescued what I could and, in between fixing dinner for the boys and getting ready to go out, prepped my buns ready to go into the oven the following morning. (This was the first time I had ever rolled a dough on an oiled baking mat with an oiled rolling pin - most recipes tell you to use flour to prevent sticking. Well apart from not really working that well, the flour can also compromise the flavour and consistency of the dough quite a lot, so I am not a fan... this new method using plain oil is the way to go!)
Once shaped into buns and neatly arranged on the glaze and toppings, those buns were really well behaved - and they turned out a real treat... the right amount of sticky, not over or underdone on the bottom, just plain moreish! A recipe to fall in love with, especially since my husband is not a great fan of caramel, my daughter's not too keen on the dried apricots and I had most of the pan all to myself ;-)

Sticky buns with apricots, pistachios and cardamom
(converted to metric and adapted from Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice")

For the yeast starter:
20 g fresh yeast
1 pinch sugar
50 ml milk
25 g flour
flour for dusting

For the sticky glaze:
100 g caster sugar
100 g light brown sugar
250 g salted butter
100 ml agave syrup

For the dough:
100 g granulated sugar
70 g lightly salted butter
1 large egg (lightly beaten)
1 tsp grated zest of unwaxed lemon
450 g pastry flour
300 g buttermilk (weighed!)
70 g caster sugar
1 heaped tbsp ground cardamom
1 handful chopped pistachios (shelled, unroasted, unsalted)
1 handful chopped dried apricots

Prepare the starter:
Dissolve the yeast in the milk, work in the flour and sugar. Dust with some flour, just enough to coat the micture lightly, then stand in the cold oven for about 30 minutes, until you can see bubbles forming - a sign that the yeast is live and doing its job.

In the meantime, prepare the sticky glaze:
Combine caster sugar, brown sugar and butter until creamy. Add the agave nectar and mix for another 5
minutes or so until the mixture is light and fluffy and has gained some volume. Cover the base of a 24 cm non-stick baking tin with the glaze about half a cm to a cm high. (You won't be using it all, keep in the fridge for later use). Sprinkle with the dried apricots and pistachios.

When the yeast starter is active, prepare the dough:
Mix the sugar and butter until pale and creamy. Add the egg, yeast mixture and lemon zest and combine until smooth. Gradually add the flour and milk and beat with dough hooks until the dough has gained enough strength and is coming off the wall to form a ball. It should be supple and silky, not sticky.
(It was still in my case, to be honest, but since you're working it with oil later, it doesn't matter much)

Place the dough ball in an oiled bowl, cover loosely with cling film and leave to prove in the (cold) oven for two hours or until the dough has about doubled in size.

Get your baking mat and rolling pin out and spray or rub lightly with oil. (Make sure the oil you use is light in colour and almost tasteless, wheat germ oil or maize oil will work fine). Now roll the dough out to about 40 by 20 centimeters.
Sprinkle with the cardamom and sugar, then roll into a log. Cut equal pieces of about 5 cm off the roll and place in the baking mould, about half a centimeter apart.

Leave to rest at room temperature for another 90 minutes, until the edges of the buns merge into each other.
Preheat the oven to 175 C.
Place the buns in the oven and bake for about 35 - 40 minutes - until you see the caramel rising at the sides of the pan turning a medium brown. Be aware that while the buns might be quite brown on top, the underside (which will be the top of your cake) will cook more slowly.

Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
Place a large plate on top and carefully, but firmly, turn over to flip the buns onto the plate. Careful of the hot caramel, you want it all on the buns, not the counter or, even worse, your arms!!!
Spoon any remains of the glaze or the fruits/nuts onto the top of your "cake" and wait another 20 minutes or so before serving.

Comments

[Anne]

Oooh, you're a daring baker too! Well, of course you are! And congratulations on the first challenge! I love the photo of the dough in the oven - but I'm glad it's not MY oven.. :) Pistachios and apricots are perfect together - great move to use them in this!

[Pille]

Sorry to hear about the oven incident:( I only made my buns this morning (yes, the day of the deadline), and was lucky as everything worked out well. That pistachio-caramel-apricot combo sounds delightful!

[brilynn]

I love the combination you used, they look fabulously sticky!

[Sanja]

It is funny to read how you "mull recipes" because I function the same way. The problem is that I never succeed to repeat what I have cooked so, when I cook it is always kind of a surprise. It's fun but sometimes I cook something really great and then I can't re-do it because I can't remember what exactly I have done earlier. (uf, English grammar is killing me)
btw - great post!

[Yambalaya]

LOL, loved your story and the twist you gave it with cardamom. a must try soon !!!
isis

[Tartelette]

Johanna, you are too hard on yourself: they look absolutely smashing! Awesome job on your first challenge! I love the apricots in them! Made me want to make another batch just for those!
Husbands and food shopping, oh boy, do I have funny story about that. B. takes his cell phone and calls me from the store now!

[Laurie]

The apricots are such a tasty choice, I wish I could try one. They look gorgeous and I bet they tasted even better. Great job!

[awoz]

Tempting! Very tempting!!!

[Katie]

Your sticky buns look fanstastic. I couldn't believe the photo of your dough! It certainly was alive and kicking. The pistachio and apricot combo sounds lovely.

[Laura]

I plan on trying the cardamom and pistachio combination next time. Well done on making buns that you liked best, I halved the recipe a made cinnamon buns for my daughter and sticky buns for me!
The green of the pistachios looks so beautiful in that glaze.

[johanna]

yes, anne, i am a DB too! i would have joined much earlier if it wasn't for henrik - small babies never make for good planning and sticking to deadlines ;-)

pille, you are one brave woman. i have been caught out far too often... even leaving the write-up till this morning felt a bit too daring for me! lol

brilynn, they were - a star is born, you must try this when you've gotten over your little drama ;-)

sanja, i am sooo with you on this, re-creating one of my thrown-together-at-a-whim dishes is nigh impossible - so we rarely eat the same thing twice at home!

yambalaya, i only discovered cardamom this year and i feel my cooking is so much better for it... it's a fantastic, exotic addition to my spice repertoire!

helen, oh yes, we would normally have had that, too - except he left his behind..

laurie, awoz, thanks so much, they were a great combo, indeed!

katie, yes, talk about hyperactive yeast!!!

[Kit]

They look great and I love the idea of cardamom as a variation. The dough in the oven would have had me freaking out.

Interesting about using oil rather than flour to prevent sticking when rolling. I use sunflower oil now in my bread tins, but have to be careful to use the bare minimum or I can taste it on the crust, which is too reminiscent of school fried bread for me.

[peabody]

The dough rebelled against you...but you tamed it...very nice.
They look gorgeous.

[Maryann]

Beautiful :)

[johanna]

Kit, Fried bread? You poor thing! I couldn’t believe it when I got fried bread the first time I ever tried a fry-up… and the oil must have been used for tons of fries and other pub grub before that… positively YUK!

[african vanielje]

Johanna, your buns look great. I was too scared as a newbie to tweak much so will just have to make some more with apricots & nuts

[breadchick]

WOW! I thought my dough rose well!! Yours really rose!!! Great job on your first challenge and great combination on the sticky buns!! Welcome aboard!!!

[maybahay]

wow, this looks absolutely 'sticky' and delicious. great idea with the cardamom. it has to be my favourite spice and your flavour combo sounds very 'north african', which i am into at the moment. the post was quite a funny read.

[Chris]

Well done! Well done! I love the idea of the apricots. Yum!

[Dayna]

That's some healthy,active yeast you have there.
The finished product looks wonderful!

[Sylvia]

Well done Johanna.Your buns looks delicious.I love cardamom, and apricot,you made my mouth watering

[Andrea]

The cardamom and pistachio combination sounds lovely! And the story of the dough going walkabout in your oven is priceless! Welcome to the Daring Bakers!

[Anh]

The combo you used is fabulous!!!

[Lisa]

Ha! Yours is the 2nd blog I've read so far that had a "dough explosion" in the oven (Sass & Veracity was the 1st heee!)

But you overcame the near disaster in perfect order - your buns are totally droolworthy!

An excellent post, Johanna!

xoxo

[Ivonne]

Nicely done, Johanna! I love the combination of apricot and cardamom!

[Dagmar]

Well done, what a lovely idea to use apricots. The dough looks like it's trying to escape :-)

[Amanda]

Now we have the same weather being in the South East but you obviously have a trick for rising dough. After 2 hours my dough had hardly risen at all. I only did cinnamon but they were still really good.

Yours look fantastic!

[Belinda]

I think these sticky buns are absolutely gorgeous...the touch of pistachios for that hint of color is a brilliant idea...you and Helene have both inspired me to use pistachios in something baked very soon. :-)

[Deborah]

I can't believe how much your dough rose!! I love the modifications you chose - they sound heavenly!

[Jenny]

Yum, apricots and caramel. My oven hates me too, but just for burned sugar, it didn't get raw dough. Hee. Welcome to the DB!

[cupcaketastic]

After all the angst your buns turned out devine looking, and I am sure the apricot and pasitashio comb was delish.

[Gourmet or Gourmand?]

VERY yummy looking recipe...I just did my own sticky buns over the weekend, I will try yours and see how they compare! And aren't homemade sticky buns just soooo much better than store bought??

[joey]

The pistachio/apricot combination sounds like an absolute winner! :) Scrumptious looking buns :)

[johanna]

breadchick: i know, quite scary. sometimes you spend ages praying it will rise and others it will just explode on you - go figure!

maybahay, north african indeed! it rocks, but i am only slowly discovering it. will be checking your blog for inspiration!

dayna, i never thought this was possible, but i learn a lot about doughs the more i bake... and you can really tell just by looking at it what state it's in - and this one certainly is hyperactive!

lisa, i'll check SV out... to show some solidarity at least ;-)

dagmar, i know - what have i done! i tried to treat it nicely and all... but i tamed the beat in the end...

amanda, maybe it was the fact that i used fresh yeast? i always have better results with that and i do suspect that english dried yeast might be less active than american and therefore the recipe would need adjusting? just a thought!

belinda, you've gotta love pistachios for the visual drama they add, don't you? i can't get enough of them and they're certainly underrated in cooking these days.

jenny, burnt sugar? ouch! that sounds very painful! i am lucky it was just some cold and sticky dough for me...

gourmet or gourmand? i have never even tried buying them at a store... seeing how dreadful the simplest cakes taste, i wouldn't trust them with this. and it's not that difficult to make, and sooo rewarding! definitely making this again!

[Claudia]

Your buns look delicious! I like the idea of sticky buns with dried aprictos and pistachios - a must try!

[Marce]

Great job on your first challenge, Johanna! The sticky buns were my favorite as well, and I´m glad you were able to fix the overflowing dough problem and get these amazing results. Apricots and pistachios, now that i need to try.

[Jeanne]

Oh how utterly fabulous this looks! And well done you for persevering in the face of adveristy to get these made... ;-) I have loved chelsea buns since I was a kid but have never had this apricot/pistachio combo. Now, of course, I won't rest till I've tasted it, LOL!

[Gabi]

Your buns are beautiful!
I used apricots too with pineapple and almonds- don't they look like jewels in all that lovely caramel?
Nice Job!
xoxo

[Aoife]

Oh wow, your dough really went to town in that oven! Looks like you were able to rescue it though, so welcome to the Daring Bakers!

[baking soda]

All through the post I was nodding in recognition, yes to caramel, weigh vs cups, winging a recipe etc etc (did I mention caramel?). I'm surprised by the force of that dough in the oven!
Loved your write-up! and buns, sure the buns!

[Jen]

I think your combination sounds really tasty. I love apricots and your pictures are making me hungry. :)

[Dolores]

Dried apricots seem a perfect remembrance of summer here. I'm glad your oven survived its invasion! Your buns look great!

[Julie]

I really think pistachios are a great idea here, and despite what you wrote, I think your apricots look great on these buns! I hope your oven came out of this all right. =) Congratulations on your delicious-looking buns and your first challenge!

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Hooray for stickie buns. I think my biggest issue when I joined was stay with the recipe. I wanted to change everything. Like you I found when I followed the recipe, I learned so much! And if I changed the recipe, I'd have missed learning what I did. This was a wonderful challenge for learning but also allowed creativity! That's probably the best of all worlds.
Welcome to the world of Daring Bakers.

[Judith]

I'm not a big sticky bun fan, but I love this idea! It looks a little daunting, and I'm not entirely sure what fresh yeast is, but I might try it one Saturday.

EDIT:
Fresh/live yeast is what bakers use for making bread – it comes in huge blocks (and small ones for the retail market if you happen to live in central Europe, at least), is v dense and beige in colour. It works faster and is stronger than dried yeast and (I think) has a subtler taste.
In the UK, you can buy it in health food stores sometimes, I just go to the supermarket (where they bake their own bread) and ask them to cut off a block for me… some don’t do it because they’re not allowed to sell “live” material, but one does without fail. I couldn’t live without it.