Cinnamon the perfect spice for fall treats
We are in the midst of autumn and regardless of the waning warmth of the sun, it has been a spectacular season so far. Alas, as I sit down to write this, I contemplate the necessary evil of having to change the clocks back before I go to bed tonight. By the time you are reading this we will have endured our first week of afternoon darkness, anxiously awaiting the winter solstice to give us respite.
In these days of extended evenings, with the increasing chill in the air, we naturally seek out warmth and comfort. Cinnamon embodies warmth and comfort with both its aroma and taste. The spice, used to flavour countless sweet and savoury dishes, also adorns liqueured hot drinks, hot chocolate, lattes and cappuccinos.
Unbeknownst to most North Americans, what we use as cinnamon in our kitchens is actually cassia, a related but different member of the laurel family. In terms of taste, cassia has a strong, assertively spicy, less sweet, even bitter taste, while true cinnamon is more delicate and complex, with notes of cloves and citrus. According to Toronto-based pastry chef, Regan Daley, in her book In the Sweet Kitchen, "Neither cassia nor cinnamon is inferior to the other; rather, they should be used thoughtfully, in products that best showcase their individual attributes."
Cassia is one of the oldest spices. It was recorded in Chinese herbal history as early as 2700 BC. It is also referred to in the Bible as the spice with which Moses was commanded to anoint the tabernacle (Exodus 30: 23-25). The reddish-brown powder is ground from the bark of an evergreen tree native to Burma, Cinnamomum cassia . Because the bark is so hard and brittle it is usually ground commercially. The quality of ground cassia is evident by the pungency of its smell – the stronger, the better.
Cassia, often called Chinese cinnamon, is now cultivated in China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Central America, as well as Burma. Vietnamese cassias hold the reputation for being the "world’s finest" in terms of flavour intensity and complexity.
True cinnamon, ground from the dried bark of Cinnamomum zeylanicum , a related evergreen tree, is indigenous to Sri Lanka. The spice was first recorded there in the 13th century. The Portuguese, the first major explorers with a substantial navy, sought out Sri Lanka for the spice during the 15th and 16th centuries. The Dutch took over production in 1636 and began cultivating the spice but kept the cost high by burning excess supplies in Holland. The English East India Company took over the monopoly in 1796.
The cost of cinnamon was kept high by the demand for its medicinal properties in Europe, particularly early in the 20th century. Penzey’s Ltd., a mail-order spice house, lists the cost of Ceylon cinnamon as $100 per pound in 1910. This was the reason that North American merchants imported the less expensive cassia for culinary uses.
Bark from the cinnamon/cassia tree is harvested and dried. The older bark from lower branches at the tree base is ground to make the powdered spice while the twigs harvested from the tree tops are cut for sale as cinnamon sticks. The finest bark comes from the thin shoots at the centre of the plant. The shoots are rolled by hand to form quills and dried in the shade to keep them from warping.
Cinnamon/cassia is used to flavour many dishes. Ground, cassia is one of the constituents of five-spice powder. Cinnamon is used in Moroccan lamb tajine and to flavour couscous or lentils. In India the spice is added to curries and pilafs. In the West the spice is often paired with sweet dishes like fruit compotes, cakes, spice breads and drinks. It pairs particularly well with chocolate. Cinnamon sticks can be used to infuse milk, cream, poaching liquids or wine. Whatever you choose to add the spice to, its flavour is instantly, pleasantly recognizable; its fragrance warm and comforting.
When I was a teenager, several of us would head up to a friend’s cottage north of Madoc, Ontario. The cottage was a good 40 minute drive off the main highway on a rutted, pot-holed, dirt road. We did a lot of partying each evening, awakening to heavy hangovers and lethargy. Inevitably one of us would volunteer to drive the dirt road to the gas station and country store at the highway junction. Pulling up to the station with the windows open, the strong smell of freshly baked cinnamon buns mingled and overpowered that of the gasoline. We would eat one batch driving back to the cottage, saving the second batch to ease the hangovers of friends anxiously awaiting our return. Those cinnamon buns – the best I ever tasted – were sticky, sickly sweet. A breakfast of those and a quick jump in the freezing lake was enough to cure us for the day and another evening of festivities.
The following recipe is a little more high maintenance than those I normally chose for this column. That being said it is easy – it just takes a little forward planning to allow the sweet yeast dough to rise. Best to make the dough the night before and pop it in the fridge to rise for the next morning. Form the rolls, letting them rise another hour, put them in the oven and bake. The results are well worth the extra time and they are best still warm from the oven.
Another warning: these buns are not for the calorie conscious, they are pure, buttery, pleasure.
Maple-Pecan Sticky Buns with Cinnamon-Chocolate Centres
This recipe comes from Gooey Desserts The Joy of Decadence by Elaine Corn.
Makes 16 sticky, gooey buns
Sweet Dough
2 packages dry yeast
half a cup warm water
three quarter cup milk
half cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
half cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups flour
2 tablespoons very soft butter
Maple Caramel
1 cup brown sugar
half cup maple syrup
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
To Assemble set out 4 small bowls to hold an assembly line filled with each of
4 tablespoons very soft butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon each cinnamon and sugar
1 cup coarsely chopped pecan halves
Sticky Bun Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
2 tablespoons milk or cream
For the dough
In a small bowl, stir the yeast with the warm water and set aside until bubbly.
Heat milk, sugar, salt and butter together until butter melts. Pour into a large bowl to cool to lukewarm.
Add yeast to the cooled milk mixture. Add eggs and 2 cups of the flour and beat well by hand, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cups flour 1 cup at a time, beating well until smooth, about 2 minutes. Dough will be soft and smooth and should pull cleanly away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn into a buttered bowl, then generously butter the surface of the dough with the softened butter, top and bottom.
Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate as little as two hours or overnight, or up to three days. Dough will rise in refrigerator. It will be ready for rolling and shaping the next morning.
For syrup
Grease 2 9-inch cake pans. In a heavy saucepan, heat the sugar, maple syrup, and butter until butter melts, then simmer very gently 10 minutes, Pour maple caramel equally into the greased pans.
To Assemble
Divide prepared dough in half. Roll first section into a 10- by 12-inch rectangle on a surface lightly sprinkled with flour. Spread with half the soft butter, then sprinkle with half the chocolate chips, cinnamon-sugar, and pecans.
Roll up from long side into a snug log. With a sharp paring knife, cut into 8 sections. Place spirals, cut sides down, into the syrup in one of the pans, placing 1 spiral in the centre and 7 around. Repeat with remaining dough.
Cover buns with a cloth and let rise 1 hour. After 40 minutes, preheat oven to 375F.
Bake buns 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately invert onto a rack with waxed paper underneath to catch drips. Let cool 10 minutes before icing with Sticky Bun Glaze. For glaze do not mix until ready to use. With a fork, mix sugar and milk until smooth. Pour over buns.
