3W4DW: November Cakes recipe transcript

[kaberett]

Maggie Stiefvater (m_stiefvater), author of a range of books including WOMEN DO COOKING AND THEY'RE AWESOME and WOMEN ARE MORE GENERALLY AWESOME and BECHDEL TEST PASSES and WEREWOLVES and CARNIVOROUS HORSES FROM THE SEAAAAAA and also, alas, Everyone In Canada Is White, invented a foodstuff for one of her novels, then invented the recipe as a result of popular fannish demand. It's freely available online, but only as an image, which personally I consider to be a bit of a pity.

And so! Here is a transcript of the recipe for Maggie Stiefvater's November Cakes (version II), as featured in the aforementioned flesh-eating-horses remote-Scottish-island novel The Scorpio Races (which, incidentally, I adore). Because I love you, I've looked up and included weights as well as volumes, and gas marks and degrees Celsius as well as Fahrenheit. [insert standard fannish disclaimers about This Does Not Belong To Me here!]

for the cake:
1 cup (240ml) milk
1/2 cup (120ml) water
1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil
1 tbsp (15g) butter
3.5 cups (400g) of flour
3 tsp (or 1 packet) active dried yeast
3 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp salt
2 eggs

for the filling:
3 tbsp (45g) melted butter
1/4 tsp orange extract

for the glaze:
3/4 cup (150g) brown sugar
2 tbsp (30ml) whipping cream
8 tbsp (120g) butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup (120ml) honey

for the icing:
1/2 cup (60g) powdered (icing) sugar
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp (15g) melted butter

BASE: Microwave milk, water, oil, and butter for two minutes. Make certain it is not too hot to touch (90-100degF/32-38degC) (we don't want to kill off our little hard-working yeast, do we? no, we are not killers). Crack eggs into liquid. In the mixing bowl of a standing mixer, combine 1.5 cups (190g) of flour, the salt, the sugar, and the yeast. Add the liquid and stir thoroughly. Add remaining 2 cups (210g) of flour one cup (105g) at a time, stirring between each addition. With mixer on low and using the bread paddle or hook, mix dough for 4 minutes. If you don't have a standing mixer for some strange reason I cannot fathom because they are the most useful things ever, you can knead it by hand for 8 minutes instead.

Scrape dough into a greased and floured mixing bowl. Let rise for one hour in a warm place. (I preheat my oven to 100degF/30degC and then turn it off before putting the dough inside, covered with a towel. This is a Great Way to Not Kill Your Yeast.) After one hour, remove the dough to a floured cutting board. Gently roll it out to a 12x20" (ish) rectangle. Spoon the filling (melted butter and orange extract) to cover the rectangle, then roll it up. It will be... slimy. Delicious, but slimy. Use a sharp knife to cut the log into 12 rolls. (They should be swirled like cinnamon rolls.)

Place each roll cut-side up in a greased muffin tin. Put the muffin tin back into the oven for another 30 minute rising. Preheat oven to 400degF/200degC/GM6, then bake rolls (remove the towel first, flames are such a pain in the kitchen) for 14 minutes.

Let them cool in the pan for a few minutes, then tip them out for the next step.

GLAZE: While the rolls are cooling, prepare glaze. Mix together honey, butter, and sugar in heavy saucepan. Turn on medium-high heat while stirring constantly. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil for 2 minutes (no skimping) while continuing to stir constantly. Add whipping cream and vanilla and mix well, keeping the stirring and heat constant until mixed through.

Spoon glaze over the buns. Because of the buns' shape, the sides will likely remain glaze free, and the glaze should pool in the dimples and crevices of the top of the buns.

ICING: Combine all ingredients with enough water to make the desired consistency -- thin enough to drizzle. Give the caramel honey glaze five or ten minutes to cool, and then, with a spoon, drizzle icing in a zig-zag pattern over the top. Serve while warm and don't get on any strange horses.