Ina Garten's Sticky Holiday Buns

  

I watched Ina bake these last year on the Food Network, in a episode called Barefoot in London, ever since I've been waiting for my chance to share the recipe with you. Ina and her husband were filming their tour of  Borough Market in London, when she came across a selection of Chelsea buns. This was all the inspiration she needed to come up with these sticky, cinnamon buns. I think that a batch of these on a cold winters day with a steaming mug of hot chocolate would melt even the most Grinch like of hearts!!





Makes 12

Ingredients
180g Unsalted butter, at room temperature
40g Light brown sugar
50g Pecans, chopped in very large pieces
2 Sheets puff pastry (I used a 375g packet of ready rolled puff pastry, which I rolled out to 38x33cms)

For the filling:
30g Unsalted butter, melted and cooled
80g Light brown sugar
3tsp Ground cinnamon
250g Sultanas

Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Place a 12 cup bun tin on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar. Place 1 rounded tablespoon of the mixture in each of the 12 cups and distribute the pecan nuts evenly among them on top of the butter and granulated sugar mixture.

On a lightly floured board or stone surface, unroll 1 sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter (I only used one large pastry sheet so I didn't need to divide the mixture etc)

Leaving a 2½cm border around the pastry, sprinkle each sheet with half of the brown sugar, half of the cinnamon, half of the sultanas.

Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly, like a Swiss roll, around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1cm and discard.

Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 4cm wide and place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the bun tin cups.

Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch.

Be careful - they're hot! Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the greaseproof paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon) and allow cool completely before serving.