War of the Cinnamon Buns

Last Friday in class we were scheduled to make cinnamon buns and I couldn't help but wonder whether the ones I'd make in class would beat the ones I made at home (see Move Over Cinnabon!). We were told to bring extra sugar, raisins and some store-bought fruit filling. It soon became apparent to us that we weren't just making cinnamon buns but many different shapes and variations with same basic dough. The sweet yeast dough was made, allowed to rise and divided in four pieces. Each piece was used to make a different type of pastry. We made the original cinnamon bun shape, a coffee cake ring shape, a twisted version which was wrapped into several different shapes and a braid with fruit filling in the middle. These were baked in the oven and brushed with a honey syrup then lightly drizzled with a glaze made from icing sugar, lemon flavor and water.

The honey syrup added that irresistible sheen to the pastry. It also added more sweetness to the pastry than in my version of the cinnamon bun. These cinnamon buns were what Jamaican's refer to as "Sugar Bun" while the ones I made previously were more like what you'd get at Cinnabon, but they were both delicious. All the variations were yummy.