The best challenge yet

Last week we decided to rise to an even bigger baking challenge! We made yeast our required ingredient -and let me tell ya – I have no regrets!

I decided it was time to bake my Grandma B’s sticky buns. These are not your ordinary Carmel-pecan sweet rolls. Oh no -these are different – filled with jam or jelly for the stickiness! And I have memories of them from my childhood.

Christmas morning breakfast on Maxwell crescent, I was 10 years old and my Grandma had made a pan of sticky buns for us. It was a special occasion because my grandparents were staying with us on Christmas AND we were having sticky buns! I remember what the rolls looked like, how they smelled and how the first bite tasted in my mouth. Warm, soft, gooey, sweet with cherry jam.

Friends, it has taken me 34 years to get around to making this deliciousness! I’m not sure what took so long – but this past week it was finally time!!

Because Grandma’s recipe was not in the family cookbook I called my Aunt Sharon for a sticky buns consultation. And she had just the information I needed. Well sort of … you see the recipe for sticky buns isn’t exactly written down. It’s more like a verbal tradition. Make dough, roll it out this particular way, fill up crevices with jam, and bake. Stir up icing to spread on when the buns are cool. That’s pretty much it. Not a lot to go on except personal experience and practice.

But I have good news for you – using Grandma’s recipe for bread dough I gave it a whirl – and by a whirl I do mean it looked like a tornado went through my kitchen, hitting me flour canister the hardest! But my batch of sticky buns turned out better than I had hoped!

Now up on the mountain, Theresa made us a batch of her homemade cinnamon rolls with orange creamy frosting and they were exceptional. I’ll step out on a limb here and say they are the best in town – better than any bakery for sure!!