Sticky Buns with Walnut Sauce

Ingredients

For the buns

• 60 ml milk

• 1 egg

• 20 g salted butter

• 135 g flour

• 2 g salt

• 25 g sugar

• 3 g dry yeast

For the sauce

• 30 g butter, salted

• 55 g brown sugar

• 20 ml honey

• 15 ml cream  

• 15 ml water

• 50 g walnuts, toasted

For cinnamon filling

• 20 g brown sugar

• 2 g cinnamon powder

• 10 g salted butter

Method

For the buns

In a bowl, whisk together milk, sugar eggs and yeast. Let this mixture stand undisturbed for 10-15 minutes or till it starts to puff.

Sift flour onto a work surface and make a well in the centre, start adding the liquid a little at a time and using your fingers, mix in the flour. Do this till all the liquid has been used.

Start kneading the dough using your palms, till you get a soft and smooth dough.

Rub in the salt and butter and knead till incorporated. Don't over knead after this point as the dough will get sticky.

Round the dough and let it proof in a bowl covered with a damp cloth or a cling wrap for 30-45 minutes or till double in size.

For the sauce

In a pan, mix all the ingredients and let it cook over medium heat till the sugar has melted and the liquid has thickened slightly.

Pour it into a 7" round tin with only the sides greased.

Scatter with walnuts and let the mixture cool down.

For cinnamon filling

Roll out the dough into a rectangle that's about 7" in length.

Spread the softened butter uniformly with an offset spatula and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar (if you want a little crunch of the sugar, use as is or you can also grind it to a powder).

Start rolling the rectangle from the top like a Swiss roll.

Pinch the bottom shut and divide the roll into 7 portions, using a serrated knife or cut it with dental floss.

Place in greased 7" round tin and let it proof again till double in size (30-45 minutes).

Once proofed, bake at 180° C for 15 minutes or till the dough has a medium dark brown colour (you don't want it to be blonde as it will still be raw inside).

After baking, let it cool for 5 minutes and then invert it onto a plate. Serve warm.