These days it’s pretty rare for me to cook from a cookbook. There are tons of great food blogs out there and with more than 550 recipes pinned to my Treats board, baking from a book rarely enters my mind. I do use my Joy of Cooking and America’s Test Kitchen cookbooks on a regular basis, but pretty much only when I need a really solid recipe because I’m planning on modifying it.
However, I had a birthday last month and my good friend Amanda found me the most tremendous book: The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Dessert Cookbook
Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell run Beekman 1802, which seems to have started out as a goat farm based in Sharon Springs, NY and evolved into a store, brand, television show and general lifestyle. They also have another book: The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook
The focus of this dessert cookbook is seasonal, picking out produce and flavors appropriate to each one. That means no ice cream in January or strawberries in September. Purely by accident, this tends to be the way I cook anyway because we buy a lot of our food at the farmer’s market near our house. So this was really the perfect present for me.
Plus, thanks to four straight days of rain this weekend, I got to try out this Cinnamon Bun Bundt Cake recipe immediately.
Mine wasn’t quite as pretty as the one in the book and looked a little naked right out of the pan so I added a powdered sugar glaze based on Smitten Kitchen’s pumpkin cinnamon rolls. Since there are spaces in the book to write down modifications and notes to make the recipes yours, I added those directions to the Notes section on that page. You know, for future generations.
Instructions
- In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes, or until foamy. If it doesn’t get foamy, throw it out, go out and buy new yeast and start again.
- Meanwhile, in a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat the butter and 1/4 cup granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks, buttermilk and salt until well combined.
- Beat in the yeast mixture. Beat in 3 1/2 cups of the flour until combined.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth, adding more flour if necessary.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll to a 12 by 18 inch rectangle. Brush with 3 tablespoons of the melted butter.
- In a small bowl, combine the 2/3 cup brown sugar, the cinnamon and salt and sprinkle over the dough. Starting at one short end, roll into a cylinder. Cut crosswise into 10 equal pieces. (Note: Deb from Smitten Kitchen says use a serrated knife and don’t put any downward pressure on the dough to keep the pretty spirals intact. Just saw back and forth.)
- Brush a 10 to 12 cup Bundt pan with melted butter and coat with the 3 tablespoons brown sugar. Place the pieces of dough, seam side down, around the pan, angling the pieces slightly so that no piece completely covers the swirl pattern of its neighbor. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until light and puffed, about 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until the buns are golden brown and well risen. Remove from the oven and let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then invert onto a cake plate.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, milk and vanilla (if using) and, using a hand mixer, beat until smooth. Spoon onto cake. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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