Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Brown Butter Butternut Squash Sticky Buns

 The Gourmandise School  
of
 Sweets and Savories
  
 Santa Monica 



butternutbrioche

Buttered up and Squashed down.
Beyond the delicious bounty of the most extraordinary produce we have available here exists a community of small food producers who inspire.  We love being delighted by their innovations in flavors, textures and presentation.

We first met Rose in a bread class; her wild eyes excited about everything related to yeast and dough and shaping.  We watched as she grew her business from an idea to a small operation to a full-scale delivery service and prime location at the Wednesday Santa Monica market.  All of Red Bread's breads are made only from wild yeasts and she's perfected everything from bagels to cracked cookies and the best new brioche we've tasted in a long time (yes, we taste that many)!

So in the spirit of buy-local-make-local-eat-local, we bring you this most seasonal of breakfast breads.  Here is our adaptation using our new brioche base.  To purchase Roses's version, you'll have to visitwww.TheBreadisRed.com.

Brown Butter Butternut Squash Sticky Buns
Prepare an 13x9" brownie pan by buttering the sides.

Roast in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes:
1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes.

1. Puree and add spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves-whatever you like)!  Set aside to cool.

In a medium saucepan, brown:
2 sticks butter
1 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 tsp extract

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, stir:
4 cups flour
3 tsps instant dry yeast
1/3 cup sugar

In a medium bowl, whisk together:
5 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 tsps salt
1/2 cup butternut squash puree

1. Once the butter has browned, pour into a large bowl or rimmed cookie sheet and place in freezer until firm but not frozen (about 20-30 minutes).
2. Mix the dry ingredients in the mixer (or with a wooden spoon and a large bowl if making by hand).  Add the wet ingredients and run mixer at medium speed for about 8 minutes.
3. Add the cold butter, a few pieces at a time, until a smooth dough forms.  Depending on the temperature of your butter, this could take 5-10 minutes.
4. Flatten the dough onto a parchment or plastic-lined cookie sheet and chill for 1 hour.  It will be sticky!
5. Take your dough out and roll it into a rectangle the size of two sheets of paper.  Sprinkle with filling (below) and make sure the longest parts of your rectangle spread from your left to your right.
6. To roll, you'll want to pull back a bit and tuck as you go for a nice, taught finish.  You can see where we're going with this here- check out the photo of our sticky buns we bake for the Curious Baker.
7. Cut your buns about 2" thick and place them spiral-side up in your prepared pan with the glaze (see below).
8. Proof by letting the pan sit in a draft-free place for 2 hours.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until nice and golden on the outside and fully cooked between the buns.
10. Top with remaining glaze.  MMMMMMMMmmmm!!!

Filling
¾ cup brown sugar
1 tbsps melted butter 
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
pinch of salt  

1.  Melt the butter.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix with a fork. 
2.  Spread the filling over the dough and roll up as directed.  

Glaze 
1 ½ sticks butter
1 1/4 cups brown sugar 
½ cup heavy cream
¼ tsp salt 
1 tsp vanilla 
1 tsp orange zest (optional) 

1. Place all ingredients in a saucepot.  Cook over medium heat until very warm, but do not boil. 
2. Pour 1/2 of the glaze on the bottom of your pan.  Reserve the remainder of the glaze to pour over the buns once they are baked.  

Wishing you a delicious day,
Clémence and Hadley 

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