I don’t remember having caramel buns or other cinnamon rolls as we traveled around Europe. I had it in the back of my mind that this would be an American creation. My research tells me I’m wrong; apparently cinnamon rolls are popular all over Northern Europe and thought to have originated in Sweden. I guess chocolate chip cookies are our only claim to fame in the baked goods department.
You’ll want more than 12
Rose’s caramel buns are extraordinary no matter where they originate. A brioche dough is spread with an egg wash (rather than butter) to act as the glue in securing the cinnamon sugar filling. Toasted pecans and boozy raisins are also added before the dough is rolled and sliced. I took liberties here and substituted dried cranberries for half of the raisins. I just love the tartness they add.
After baking the soaking liquid from the raisins is reduced and enriched with a bit of butter. This glazes the warm rolls before they’re topped with a delicious homemade caramel and pecan halves.
If you plan to make these, start early. The dough involves at least 9 hours of raising at various stages along the way. Maybe put this together the day before you plan to gobble eat them. Because these are so time consuming, my only complaint would be that the recipe only makes a dozen. I think it’s certainly worth doubling the recipe.
The caramel sauce is fantastic. To illustrate that point, I’ll tell you that as Ed was having the last roll on the serving platter, I grabbed a spoon and scooped up some of the caramel that had dropped onto the platter, and he was kind of territorial, reminding me that part of that caramel went with the bun he was eating. Â Try making this caramel, you’ll find yourself licking the spoons too.
An accountant by trade and a food blogger since 2009, Lois Britton fell in love with Polish cuisine during the years she lived in Poznań, Poland. As the creator of PolishHousewife.com, she loves connecting readers with traditional Polish recipes. Lois has a graduate certificate in Food Writing and Photography from the University of South Florida. She is the author of The Polish Housewife Cookbook, available on Amazon and on her website.
faithy
LOL! Ed is so funny! Reminds of the episode of Friends when Joey didn’t want to share his food with one of his date…i think it was fries or something. LOL! Did you ate all of them? Just you and Ed? All 12?
polishhousewife
Hahaha, no, Faithy; we didn’t eat all twelve, but we certainly could have. We sent some home with our daughter’s boyfriend and I took some to work today, but we had more than our fair share. 😉
Vicki
I scraped the plate after dividing them up to send to my son and brother! They were simply too dangerous to have in the house. I really had to resist the urge to drizzle chocolate on top of the caramel. Your pictures make me want another one! What I’d really like is to turn the brioche into orange rolls, the other Pillsbury canned rolls my kids love.
polishhousewife
Oh, yes, orange rolls! Let us know how they turn out.
Kimberlie Robert
It was a wonderful baking week, wasn’t it? We all had fun and it seems that we all had the same reaction. Eat them all! Gobble them up! Too dangerous! Great post!
polishhousewife
A great week in deed; it is rare that we all agree!
Lori
You are right Lois, not found in Poland. The first time I found them was when we crossed to Slovakia from Zakopane. I found some in the bakery at the end of the day by following my nose to the smell. They were not frosted. I was glad to have some in a bag as we returned to Zakopane. This was pre-EU, and pre-Schegen and it took forever to cross the border back into Poland and onward to Zakopane. They were wonderful snack.
polishhousewife
Pre-Schengen border crossings were the worst. You deserved a nice snack!