Stay warm, Honey Bunnies!
If you’re heading over to Lynfred today, you might want to hop over there quickly—I’ve made up a special batch of Honey Bunnies, just for today.
They were flying out the door as I left there this morning, so move quickly—they’re vanishing fast! :9
The Zen of Sandwich Bread Perfection
As you can see above, this is yet another loaf of bread. But I’d like you to know that it’s not just another loaf of bread, my friends. Oh no. This? This is the epitome of perfect fluffy white sandwich bread.
Now, I have to confess, it may be the lure of the forbidden for me, this need to create the perfect white sandwich bread. As a child, you see, we never had white bread of any description in the house—homemade, store-bought, or otherwise. It simply Was Not Done. Loaves and loaves of Adelle Davis’ Whole Grain Bread were there for the asking, and that was fine and lovely—until I went to friends’ houses.
Of course, at friends’ houses, they had all sorts of things I wasn’t privy to as a child. Macaroni and cheese that came in a blue box? How strange! Cellophane-wrapped slices of blindingly orange cheesefood product? Whoa! Gummy fruit snacks in individual packages? It’s like I’d landed on a different planet…and maybe if I could work out the reason, eventually, I’d find my way back home.
Day Eighty: Cinnamon Ginger Orange Buns
Winter is great at first, but eventually it starts to wear on you. You find yourself wanting to either hibernate until Spring arrives, or else forcing that first little taste of Spring to cheer yourself up.
If this sounds familiar, have I got a breakfast for you.
They’re relatively fast, simple, and good. Sweet, but not too sweet. Perfect with that first morning cup of tea…or coffee, if you insist. 1
Cinnamon Ginger Orange Buns
INGREDIENTS
For the buns:
- 1.5 tsp instant or active dry yeast
- 1 c. warm water
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp butter, softened; at room temperature
- Zest of one orange
- 2 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 c. bread flour
- 1 tsp salt
For the glaze:
- 1/4 c. orange juice
- 1 c. confectioner’s sugar, plus possibly a little more.
PREPARATION
Dissolve yeast in water. Mix all dry ingredients together and stir into the water/yeast mixture; when it becomes too difficult to stir, knead by hand. If dough is too wet, add flour in incremental amounts; if too dry, add water in incremental amounts. Knead in butter. Knead dough until it is smooth and elastic. Place in lightly greased bowl and turn dough over so that the outside is lightly coated as well. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from draft, for about 2-3 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
When 2-3 hours have elapsed, preheat oven to 350F. Turn dough out onto lightly-floured work surface and divide into six equally-sized balls. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
When 10 minutes have elapsed, shape balls into buns and place on a sheet of parchment on your baking sheet. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and allow to rise until your oven has fully preheated. Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Mix orange juice and confectioner’s sugar glaze together while you wait for the buns to bake. Consistency should be almost like syrup; you may need to add a little more confectioner’s sugar or orange juice to your mixture to get it to the consistency you want.
Cool buns on a rack; serve warm, drizzled with glaze. Serves 6.
If that doesn’t taste like warmer weather, I don’t know what does. 
- Bet you can’t tell which I prefer, can you?
[↩]
Janaki
