Sticky Bun Day

What the day is

Sticky Bun Day is observed on February 21. The sticky bun and the cinnamon roll are close relatives distinguished by one structural decision.

Origin and background

A cinnamon roll is baked plain and iced afterward. A sticky bun has its sugar, butter and usually nuts placed in the bottom of the tin before the dough goes in, so the mixture caramelizes underneath during baking, and the whole thing is inverted on coming out of the oven. The topping is therefore cooked rather than applied, which is why it tastes of caramel rather than of icing, and why it cannot be assembled afterward.

Getting it out is the part that goes wrong. Molten caramel sets hard within a couple of minutes of leaving the oven, and a tray left to cool becomes extremely difficult to turn out. The buns should be inverted onto a plate almost immediately, while the caramel is still fluid.

The style is strongly associated with Philadelphia, where German-speaking immigrants brought enriched sweet doughs, and it is often traced to that tradition.

The dough itself is the other half of the result. Enriched doughs, heavy with butter, egg and sugar, ferment more slowly than lean bread doughs because fat coats the flour and sugar competes with the yeast for water. They therefore need longer rising than people expect, and cold retardation overnight in the refrigerator both improves the flavor and makes the sticky dough far easier to roll.

The rolling itself wants to be firm but not tight: too loose and the layers separate, too tight and the center pushes upward into a cone as the bun rises.

How to take part

• Invert them onto the plate within a minute or two of leaving the oven.
• Let the dough rise longer than you think. Enriched dough is slow.
• Prove it overnight in the fridge, which improves flavor and handling.
• Line the tin as well as greasing it. Caramel finds every gap.
• Scrape any caramel left behind straight back over the buns.