1982- Yummy, Warm, Sweet

It’s time for the 3rd Retro Recipe Challenge. The RRC is a celebration of retro food and retro recipes, both delicious, like Mom’s meatloaf, and disgusting, like benedictish frankwiches. It’s fun, it’s ridiculous, it’s food and pop culture – it’s the Retro Recipe Challenge!

This time around the challenge is to create a recipe from the year of your birth. Originally it was supposed to come from Gourmet magazine, but the online archives aren't very complete so the topic was broadened to be any recipe within 5 years of your birth. It took me quite a while to find a recipe that I wanted to make that was an appropriate age. I eventually found one in the same month as my birth, though not exactly the right year, close enough. I had a lot of fun digging through old cookbooks and discovered that Mom keeps milk calendars and they’re full of interesting recipes. I found homemade cookbooks, community cookbooks, handwritten recipes, cookbooks with yellowing pages, but my ultimate selection came from an issue of Canadian Living from November, 1982. This is the only issue of Canadian Living that I found in my entire house, I don’t know where it came from or why we still have it, but it was hanging out with the milk calendars. When I saw the cover I knew that’s what I was going to make. Cinnamon buns.



Reading through the old issue of Canadian Living was pretty funny. There was an article about trendsetting chefs which featured “talented young artist” Jamie Kennedy who was helping to create one of the country’s most exciting new restaurants! I was tempted to make his recipe for Apple and Almond Cake, but I didn’t have a few of the ingredients, and besides that I really wanted cinnamon buns. The recipe explained how to make either an entire pan of cinnamon buns or individual ones done in custard. Since I wasn’t planning on making 30 buns, (although the thought was tempting) I opted for the custard cup method. I also reduced the recipe, but that was the only change I made. I was going for the retro thing…



Cinnamon Buns

2 tsp granulated sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
1 pkg (1tbsp) active dry yeast
1 cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
2 eggs lightly beaten
6 cups (approx) all purpose flour
1 cup soft butter or margarine
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup raisins
¼ cup melted butter or margarine
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup corn syrup

In large mixing bowl, dissolve 2 tsp sugar in lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast over water and let stand 10 min until bubbly.
In small saucepan, scald milk. Add oil, 2 tbsp sugar and salt; stir until sugar dissolves. Add milk mixture and beaten eggs to dissolved yeast. Gradually beat in 3 cups flour; beat vigorously by hand or with an electric mixer until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough remaining flour to make a dough that is easy to handle.
Turn dough out onto floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 min. Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease all sides. Cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm draft-free place for 1-1 ½ hours or until doubled in volume.
While dough is rising, stir together soft butter and brown sugar. Divide mixture between two 13 x 9 inch baking pans, spreading evenly. Sprinkle ½ cup raisins over mixture in each pan.
When dough is doubled, punch down and divide in half. Roll out each half on lightly floured board to 15 x 8 rectangle. Brush each rectangle with 2 tbsp melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tsp cinnamon and half the remaining raisins. Roll up rectangle jelly roll fashion, beginning with at the wide end. Pinch edges of dough together along length of roll.
Slice each roll into 15 pinwheels. In each pan, arrange pinwheels slightly apart, cut side up. Cover and let rise 30 min or until doubled in volume.
Bake in 400F oven for 20 min. Pour ½ cup corn syrup over each pan and bake for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 1 min, invert pans onto large trays. Serve warm. Makes 30 rolls.
Note: To make large individual buns as shown on cover, divide brown sugar-butter mixture among 16 greased 6 ounce custard cups. Sprinkle a few raisins in each cup. Cut each roll of dough into 8 pieces. Place each piece cute side down in prepared custard cup. Spoon 1 tbsp corn syrup over each for last 5 min of baking. Makes 16 large buns.

Canadian Living, November 1982


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Baking + Dessert + RRC3 + Blogging Event + Cinnamon