There is nothing more heartwarming than the smell of a freshly baked pastry in the morning. I believe a breakfast bake tastes even more delicious when its pulled fresh from the embers of a campfire.
This is one of my many favourite household recipes that I have been developing and adapting. I cannot wait to share more of my backcountry bakes with you so that you can also rustle up an indulgent breakfast not only in your oven at home, but also over a campfire whilst you are out in wilderness.
I spent many mornings perfecting this recipe whilst I was based at my parents farm during the pandemic. I wanted to create a sweet, sticky and moreish breakfast bake that would also work as a simple yet indulgent campfire meal. Before setting off to go wild camping, I prepare the dough, slather with sugar, cinnamon and butter, then roll them up, tuck each twist inside the skin of a whole orange (flesh inside removed), wrap them in tin foil and chuck a few into my backpack. After spending the night camping, I would light a fire in the morning and, whilst I boiled the water for my coffee over the flame, I would chuck the prepared cinnamon twist stuffed oranges into the embers of the fire and leave them to bake for 10-15 minutes.
The recipe below is my basic kitchen version, however the preparation is the same for the Orange Peel Cinnamon Buns. If you are heading out on an overnight adventure, have a go rolling the dough into an orange skin, and taking it with you. You won't regret it!
Top tips:
#1 its worth doubling or even tripling this recipe and freezing any left over dough!
#2 If you don't have a food mixer, be prepared for a bit of a workout. I promise you its worth it!
RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
For The Dough; 200g Full Fat Milk 2 Medium Eggs
600g Strong White Bread Flour 25g Fresh Yeast 50g Caster Sugar 10g Salt 200g Unsalted Butter
For The Filling; 150g Unsalted Butter 250g Soft Brown Sugar 2 Tsp Cinnamon For The Egg Glaze; 1 Egg 2 Tbsp Full Fat Milk
For The Sugar Glaze; 100g Caster Sugar 100g Water
METHOD
Step 1;
Start by making the dough. Put the milk and eggs into the bowl of a food mixer then add the flour. Break in the yeast to one side of the bowl, then add the salt and sugar and butter to the other side.
Step 2;
Mix on a slow speed for 4 minutes then increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 10-12 minutes until the dough comes away cleanly from the side of the bowl.
Step 3;
Form the dough into a ball and pop into a clean floured bowl. Cover and leave for around 45 minutes or until double in size.
Step 4;
Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough into a rectangle roughly the size of an A3 sheet of paper.
Step 5;
For the filling, beat the butter and sugar together until pale and stir in the cinnamon. Spread the filling over the top of the dough.
Step 6;
With the long side facing you, fold in half lengthways to enclose the filling and slice it widthways into 24 strips each roughly 3.5cm across. Next, use a sharp knife to cut twice down the length of each strip to make three strands. Plait the three strands together and repeat to make 24 individual plaits.
Step 7;
Take each plait and roll it up along its length to create a knot. Grease a 12 cup muffin tray and pop the knots into the tray. Cover with cling film or a damp towel and allow to prove for 1 hour. You can also leave the dough in the fridge over night at this stage, and bake in the morning.
Step 8;
Turn your oven to 200°C. Brush the knots with the egg glaze (forget the egg glaze if out camping) and pop into the outdoor oven to bake for between 15-20 minutes until golden.
Step 9;
Meanwhile, make the sugar glaze. Put the sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer until you have a light syrup. (Just take sugar and cinnamon in a small bag for camping).
Step 10;
Brush the baked knots with the syrup while still hot and leave to cool before devouring.
For a film visual, check out my reel on my instagram feed.