The Fresh Loaf

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Sticky Bun Goo Gone Horribly Wrong

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

Sticky Bun Goo Gone Horribly Wrong

I REALLY need help with my sticky bun goo. I have tried countless variations of the "butter/cane sugar/brown sugar/honey/cane syrup, etc" recipe. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but regardless of the recipe or process, the goo gets really hard, sometimes to the point of sugar candy, after the buns cool.

Per a recipe I have, it says to combine the ingredients and heat just until the sugar melts, then pour in 9x9 pan, cool, add buns and bake. When I de-pan the buns after baking, the goo drips all over but as the buns cool, the goo just gets harder and chewier. I have tried melting the butter and mixing the ingredients without heating to no avail.

Any thoughts? What am I dong wrong? The buns themselves are fantastic (they are jokingly referred to by friends as crack buns), but are ruined after the warm goo on top hardens to candy. HELP!

pmccool's picture
pmccool

That’s my first impression, anyway.  The recipes that I have used don’t call for melting the mixture prior to baking.  Oven heat warms it to melting and then to a soft ball stage, approximately.  

Your recipe already has it melted and then the oven heat raises the temperature to a hard crack stage.  Hence the candy “shell” when it cools.  

Try the sticky buns variation of the cinnamon roll recipe in Bread Baker's Apprentice.  That one always comes out nice. 

Paul

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

Thanks for the reply! Peter Reinhart's "Bread Baker's Apprentice" is my favorite baking book and the one where I learned the sticky bun recipe! I'll have to dig it out from storage because it never got unpacked when I moved into the new house 4 years ago. If I'm not mistaken, the goo recipe is from his wife and states "heat until sugar is just melted". I'll admit that my memory may be somewhat faulty so I'll double check it.

pmccool's picture
pmccool

but not of preparing the glaze.  The phrase you quote talks about what happens in the oven.  All glaze ingredients and the resulting glaze, itself, are at room temperature before use.  The room temperature mixture goes into the baking pan and does not see any other heat until it is placed in the oven. 

That one change in process should give you the result you want.  Enjoy!

Paul 

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

Thanks Paul. I'll give it a try on the next batch. I'll let you know if that worked.

semolina_man's picture
semolina_man

Hard crack sugar temperature is approximately 300 deg F.   You are baking the rolls in the neighborhood of 350 deg F, correct? 

The sugar syrup is in near direct contact with oven heat through the pan, and tempered by the dough, therefore preventing the sugar from burning. 

I would add the sugar syrup as a topping after baking. Or bake at a lower temperature.  What baking time and temperature are you using? 

What is the provenance of your recipe?  

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

I bake at 350 f for ~ 40-45 mins... until the center bun registers 195 f. I was thinking of removing the buns after 35 mins, adding the goo, and then replacing the buns, then let the whole thing bake until done.

The only thing that bothers me is that there has to be a way to do it all together as this is the way most recipes say to do it. For example, the recipe on Simply Recipes says to heat until the butter and sugar are melted, add to pan, add buns, and bake. I know it's something I'm screwing up... I just can't put my finger on it.

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

switch to shiny reflective pans or stick a sheet of alufoil under the dark baking pan.  Oh, you could also be baking too low inside the oven.  I used to watch my Aunt Betty make sticky buns and eveything went cold into the pan with the dough on top.  I got to butter the pans. Your buns might also need to be rotated during the bake so that when finger licking the pan, all the goo is the same.  :P

semolina_man's picture
semolina_man

Agree changing pans can help.  Try a glass (casserole or similar) baking dish.

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

I am not sure if I own a 9x9 glass baking dish but I'll look when I get to the kitchen this morning.

phaz's picture
phaz

Lol - they look just like the ones I used to make! That's funny. But yeah, it's the temp for the most part. Man now I gotta find that recipe - the goo (love that description!) - I think I used to use corn syrup and molasses and then the usual. Lots of butter of course.

I just remembered something - how are you adding the goo? I used to pour it in the bottom of a glass tray, then set the rolls on top and let them rise that way. After baking, flip it over and eat. I really gotta make those again. They were good. Enjoy!

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

The recipe for the buns is from Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice" I've been baking them for a quite a while now and they're the best I've ever made. My friend are constantly bugging me for them, even with the goo seizing up.

I'll try a glass pan and see if that helps. Thanks!

phaz's picture
phaz

Oh, I'll come up with a "recipe". Already have it planned out, just gotta get the butter this afternoon. I tend to not follow a recipe, I look at something, start throwing stuff in a bowl, and go from there.

The glass - well, if pouring the goo over the top, I doubt it'll make a difference. I used glass cuz it happened to fit the dough. The main thing was the goo was under the dough, not on top, and the consistency of the goo was thin enough so when it does thicken, it won't get hard candy hard. As I recall that was the part that took a little playing with. Goo under the dough helps to keep it from drying to much, therefore gooeyer goo, hopefully. Enjoy!

Mini Oven's picture
Mini Oven

be sure to drop the oven temp by 25°F cause glass bakes and browns faster than reflective pans.  Go for shiny pans, bright and reflective.  

Sabina's picture
Sabina

I haven't made sticky buns in ages, but when I did I used a glass pan and didn't have your problem. Now I normally make plain cinnamon rolls and ice them after they are baked, but I use a light metal pan and sometimes the filling leaks out a bit and does turn into candy. That is particularly annoying because then the buns don't pull apart easily, although it's so delicious I don't really care. But, now that I've seen some suggestions on what to do, I will try putting an extra pan underneath the main one to insulate the bottom some. Thanks for bringing the topic up!

retired baker's picture
retired baker

6 lbs honey

16 lb butter.

24lb light brown sugar.

Cream it all in the mixer, fluff it up a bit to make it easier to scoop.

i'd bet my house you aren't using enough butter.

Its got nothing to do with how shiny the molds are.

KarlSangree's picture
KarlSangree

Thanks retired baker. I'll have to check my percentages but without looking I do believe your butter percent is a lot higher than what I'm using. I'll have to scale your recipe back a bit as I usually measure in grams, and the weight of a batch of goo for me is about 1.5 pounds. The 46 pounds of goo your recipe would make would be more than a lifetime supply for me :-)

(5 minutes later) I just did the maths, and you get to keep your house. In my recipe the butter is 24% of the total wight of the goo, where yours is 35%; 10% more.

I'll give it a try. Thanks again.

retired baker's picture
retired baker

think about it, if you boil sugar it will set glass hard, add fat and in varying amounts it will soften the sugar from fudge to creamy caramel. Adding cream is the same as adding butter and water.

Honey is an invert sugar and helps to avoid crystalization.

phaz's picture
phaz

That's how I looked at goo - a light caramel sauce, just with added nuts. Enjoy!