THB : Sticky Caramel Pinwheel Cake

The Home Bakers (THB), bake #27 is Sticky Caramel Pinwheel Cake, selected by the lovely Jasline of Foodie Baker.

Firstly, I shall call this a bread! Jasline has picked a fine one, this bread is a total winner!

The dough uses milk which contributes to the soft and fluffy texture of the bread. The dough is very sticky to begin with and I ended up using  more flour than the recipe calls for. It was actually still a little sticky, but after kneading for about 20 minutes until the dough is smooth, and after the first stage of rising, it was easier to handle with a light sprinkling of flour. I have however reduced the sugar by almost half for both the dough and the caramel as I feel that the original amount is a lot, and do not want an overly sweet bread.

To make the gooey sticky caramel, firstly preheat the oven. Lightly greased the baking pan, put the butter, corn syrup and brown sugar in the pan, and place it in the oven until the butter melts and mixture bubbles. Remove from oven, spread mixture evenly on base of pan and leave to cool to room temperature.

After the first rising, the dough is rolled to a rectangle and spread with melted butter, and sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon mixture, of which I have added a tablespoon of sifted cocoa powder. Roll the dough up and cut into 16 pieces. Place these pieces, cut side up onto the prepared baking pan on top of the cooled caramel, which will be hardened by now. Cover the rolls with greased cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size.

The author has given a choice of baking these in a rectangular pan or a 14" round pizza pan (with a 1/2-inch rim) to make into a big round coffee cake. I wanted a round bread, so I baked these using the biggest pizza pan I have, a 12-inch size, which turns out a little too small! By the time the rolls rises, they almost pop out of the pan! Haha!

Brush the rolls with egg wash and bake for about 25 minutes until golden brown. Picture above is the bread just after baking, notice that one roll is missing on the left? Yum!  Not me, it's the hubby! :)

Turn them upside down and the gooey, sticky caramel is all there!

These rolls are just so delicious. The texture of the bread is really so soft and fluffy! The caramel is sticky, gooey and sweet, an absolute delight! Both hubby and me had two rolls each while these are still warm and fresh from the oven, and we actually just had our dinner! Just could not resist the second piece! I made this in the evening, meant for our breakfast the next morning.

All the 16 rolls are gone by the next day. I will definitely make this again, so good!
I'm glad that I've reduced the sugar, as they turn out really good, without being too sweet, yet sweet enough that you would go for seconds!

Kitchen Flavours notes :
~ reduce the sugar for the dough to 1/4 cup
~ reduce the sugar for the caramel to 1/3 cup, and corn syrup to 3 tablespoons

~ added 1 tablespoon of sifted cocoa powder to the sugar-cinnamon mixture
~ used bread flour, in total 3-1/8 cups

For the full recipe, please visit Jasline of Foodie Baker and to view other members' bake, drop by The Home Bakers (THB).

We are a group of home bakers who are currently baking from "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas, until each recipe from this book has been baked. This is our bake no. 27 and we have 33 recipes more to go. If you are interested to be a member and join in our bakes, you may drop me an email at kitchenflavours@yahoo.com.