Sticky Caramel Buns : Rose's Bread Bible Bakers

I've added a few cookbooks to my collection recently, one of it is Rose Levy Beranbaum's book, The Bread Bible. This is  one book that I've wanted to buy for ages, and so glad that I've finally bought it. I have four of Rose's fantastic books, but this is the one that I love the most! Could not wait to try many, many recipes, (if not all!) from this book. Upon googling for some info on some of the recipes, I've discovered a group of bakers who are currently baking through this book, and they are into their fourth recipe with this bake. Of course I could not help myself from joining in! This lovely group is "Rose's Bread Bible Bakers", who are baking one recipe each month. And I like it that the list of the bakes are notified months in advance, something that works really well for me. Gives us ample time to source for ingredients and any advance preparation if needed. 

To make the Sticky Caramel Buns, you would need to prepare the basic brioche dough first. I made the dough the day before I plan to bake these buns.

The brioche dough starts with a sponge. Mix the sponge in a mixing bowl, and a mixture of flour, yeast and salt is then sprinkled over the sponge. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and left to stand for 1-1/2 to 2 hours at room temperature. The sponge will bubble through the flour mixture. I am rather intrigued with this method, as I have never done this before. In less than an hour the sponge has already puffed and pushing through the flour mixture. 

Proceed with the rest of the recipe  (4 pages of ingredients plus instructions) from the book. 

Raisins are soaked in rum, drained before use. The rum is reserved to make the glaze which is to be brushed over the buns before baking. 

Prepare the sticky topping in advance by mixing the butter, brown sugar, and Lyle's golden syrup, and simmer for a few minutes until it bubbles and form a dark brown caramel. Pour it into the prepared lightly greased baking pan. Let it cool completely.  

The dough is rolled out to a rectangle, scatter over it the mixture of toasted chopped pecans, cinnamon, brown sugar and granulated sugar, with the drained raisins. Roll it up and sliced into 1 inch slices. At this point, before I sliced the dough, I freeze the rolled up dough as advised, for about 5-10 minutes, for easier slicing. Place 3 pieces of pecan halves onto each cut sliced dough and place it onto the prepared baking pan with the pecan side down. Cover with cling wrap and let rise until double in size. Make the rum glaze and brush it over the buns just before baking.

Freshly baked!

Unmould the buns onto a serving plate or  on foil-lined counter. With the sticky caramel on the top.

Look at the gooey sticky caramel! And the pecans! And the raisins peeking in between the swirls!

Eat while still warm.

Soft bread texture with gooey sweet caramel, moist plump raisins and nutty pecans, with the aroma of the cinnamon. Delicious!

I've also made the Blueberry Muffins, which was the first bake back in  May, for the group. Lovely muffins these are! Soft, tender crumbs, not too sweet, makes the perfect tea-time treat or a snack anytime of the day! 

Next on the list for August is Cinnamon Raisin Loaf. I'll be making the Flaky Scones which was the second bake, back in June, to catch up with everyone at Rose's Bread Bible Bakers!