Really, Really Good Frangipane Buns

It’s been awhile since I tried baking something new. I usually go for my kitchen tested, tweaked and perfected recipes like the famous and elusive chiffon cake, shortbread, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti and so on. On Friday I was craving for something “carbolicious”. Flipping through my newish copy of The Complete Canadian Living Baking book, I was immediately drawn to a picture of Frangipane Buns. They looked amazing and it wasn’t until I made and ate my buns that I realized the gorgeous, drool inducing photo made it to the cover of the recipe book.

In my experience, Canadian Living recipes are no fail – especially the baking ones. I have yet to bake something that was a major disappointment. Unless you count the Farmland Flax cookies which I liked but my kids hated. The Frangipane Buns live up to my expectations and then some. The bread is dense and rich and the frangipane is delicious. Up until I tasted these amazing buns, I had no idea what frangipane was. Basically it’s a sweet almond paste used in various pastries. Now that I know how easy it is to make frangipane, I’ll be experimenting with it’s potential uses in my baking – oh yum!

If you’re looking for a sweet bread recipe that is sure to impress give the Canadian Living Frangipane Buns a try. This one is definitely going to become a regular in my bread baking repertoire. Here is a the recipe in two parts.

Frangipane Buns (Canadian Living)

Sweet Dough Recipe

Ingredients

Preparation:

In large bowl, stir 2 tsp (10 mL) of the sugar with 1/4 cup (50 mL) warm water until dissolved. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, heat milk, remaining sugar, butter and salt until butter is melted; let cool to lukewarm. Stir into yeast mixture along with eggs. Stir in 3-1/4 cups (800 mL) of the flour, about 1 cup (250 mL) at a time, to form shaggy dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding enough of the remaining flour as necessary. Transfer to large greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1-1/2 hours.

Frangipane Buns

Ingredients

Preparation:

Line 13- x 9-inch (3.5 L) metal cake pan with double thickness parchment paper; set aside.

Frangipane: In food processor, finely chop almonds. Add sugar and flour; pulse to combine. Add butter, egg and almond extract; pulse until smooth paste, about 30 seconds. Transfer to bowl. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)

Punch down dough. On lightly floured surface, roll out dough into 18- x 14-inch (45 x 35 cm) rectangle.

Leaving 1-inch (2.5 cm) border, spread frangipane evenly over dough, mounding slightly on 1 long side. Starting with mounded side, tightly roll up; pinch seam to seal.

With serrated knife, cut roll into 12 slices. Place, cut side up, in prepared pan. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 12 hours; let come to room temperature before continuing, about 1 hour.) Cover slices and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

Topping: Brush with egg; sprinkle with almonds. Bake in centre of 375°F (190°C) oven until golden and rolls sound hollow when tapped on bottoms, 20 to 25 minutes.

Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool completely. Sprinkle with sugar. (Make-ahead: Wrap in plastic wrap and overwrap in heavy-duty foil; freeze for up to 3 weeks.)

For printable versions of the recipes, please visit the following links: Sweet Dough Recipe and Frangipane Buns, courtesy of Canadian Living.