Roll, Canada!

Don McMillan ("the only comedian who works in PowerPoint") speculated that we've been spelling the name of our northern neighbor wrong all along, the correct spelling being "CND":

"Just ask a Canadian how they spell the name of their country.  They'll say 'C, eh, N, eh, D, eh' ..."

Ok, ok, ok.  So you had to be there (or get the CD).  Regardless of how you spell it, yesterday was Canada Day.  Once called "Dominion Day" (now that sounds ominous, coming from the land of the cruller and Kokanee), it celebrates the July 1, 1867, event that created the federation of the original four provinces:  Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.

And the "cuisine d'Canada"?  It's as varied as that of the US, with a prominent French influence (can you say Québécois?), which lends itself to delicious dishes and even more delicious names (bear with me, I'm just warming up).

Take the humble cinnamon roll:  dough wrapped around a cinnamon-sugar filling (a pastry roulade, if you will).  My mother made some wicked ones when I was growing up, though they were called "caramel rolls" (that's "sticky buns" for some of you).  Brown sugar and butter in the pan, melting during the baking process to produce a wonderful sugary glaze that was almost better than the cinnamon/sugar-infused bun itself.  And that wonderful, yeasty aroma that would spread through the house was intoxicating.

When I was little, I'd help bake sometimes, though it was often less "help" than "eat the odd-shaped ends of raw dough, sugar, and melted butter".  I wish I'd picked up my mother's skill with baking, but I'm as good a baker as I am a gardener, but I've a very "brown" thumb(when I'm not hitting it with a hammer while aiming for a nail).  I've killed more sourdough starters than should be legal in civilized society, and I've not had to register as a yeast offender (there is no proof that the "marinara bread' adventure ever happened, I swear).

At any rate, enough waxing sentimental.  Sticky buns are the order of the day, and here is the recipe my mother gave me 20-some years ago:

Rolls

• 1/2 C lukewarm water
• 2 pkg dry yeast
  
• 4 T sugar
• 2/3 C warm milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 t salt
• 1/4 C lard, melted
• 4 C flour (about)
  
• 1/3 C butter, melted
• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1 T white corn syrup or water

Soak the yeast in the lukewarm water for 5 minutes.

Pour milk and melted shortening over sugar and salt in bowl.  Cool to lukewarm.

Add yeast and unbeaten eggs.  Mix well.

Add flour a little at a time and beat.  Knead in remaining flower to make a soft dough.  Cover and let rise 15 minutes.

Mix the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup or water together, and pour into greased pans, drizzling thin layer on the bottom of the pan (make sure it's spread around so there's a deliciously gooey pool for each roll to sit in while baking).

Divide dough into two parts.  Roll into rectangles and spread with softened butter.  Roll rectangles into roulades.  For added flavor, sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar before rolling.

Slice roulades into rolls about 2" thick, producing about 12 rolls per roulade.  Place rolls in the greased pans, making sure each gets its face-down end dipped in some of the butter/sugar mixture.

Cover pans and let rise for about 1/2 hour (or until doubled in volume).  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Bake until golden brown (about 30-45 minutes).  Remove from oven and let cool in pans briefly.

Flip pan over onto cookie rack.  The syrup will still be rather hot (be careful), but if you do it soon enough, it will be fluid enough to aid in removing the rolls.  Let cool until you can't take it any more.  Indulge. 

Makes about 2 dozen rolls.

What's so Canadian about sticky buns?  I'm glad you asked.  The Canadian version's filling is a wonderfully decadent brown-sugar creme, with an even more delicious name:  Pets de soeurs.  That's French for "nuns' farts". 

Bon Appetit, eh?