Good Reads Library
Nanay and Her Sticky Buns
With no apologies for any "sticky bun" jokes here or elsewhere. If anyone appreciates them, it's Nanay!
I have never had that problem of "what to call the in-laws" so many families agonize about.
To me, my in-laws have always been Tatay (TAH-tie)) and Nanay (NAH-neye).
Tatay means "father" and Nanay means "mother" in Tagalog, the main language of the Phillipines. Incidentally, that language is pronounced "Tah-GAH-Lowg", NOT "TAG-a-log", and don't feel bad if you thought otherwise--I did for years myself!
When she was little, our oldest niece lived with Tatay and Nanay for a while because her mother was going to nursing school. She heard the Man and his brothers all calling her grandparents Tatay and Nanay and so she did too. So now all the grandchildren call them that instead of Lolo and Lola.
Nanay is a remarkable person. She survived a youth in the Phillipines during the WWII Japanese occupation.She came to this country with her husband and 2 little children and struggled to raise them while he went to school by day and worked at night. Eventually she raised all 5 children largely on her own as Tatay's work with the State Department (USAID) took him around the world. Once he retired, she joined him in literally travelling all over the world--they've even been to the South Pole!
She went from being bitterly opposed to my relationship to the Man to discussing with my sister-in-law and nieces how they could persuade us to get married (my niece told me!) and she is a devout Catholic but has not pressed me to raise her granddaughters any way other than the way I'm raising them.
She's a fabulous, supportive grandmother. As much as I love my mom, it was Nay who was up to dealing with the girls as toddlers and preschoolers. SC has spent many a Christmas break or summer vacation with her. And when SC was 5 and broke her leg, Nay came down from New York and stayed with her at my sister-in-law's house so that I could go to work!
I became her favorite daughter-in-law largely because my (ex) sister-in-laws are both bitches and paved the way for me to come into the family, but I know she truly loves me as much as I love her. And that is a gift beyond measure.
One of the first things Nay and I discovered we have in common (besides adoring the Man!) is a love of baking. She's an incredible cook, and frequently is up before dawn baking bread. And though she herself is a fabulous cook, my sister-in-law is not into baking, and always asks Nay to make sticky buns when she comes for a visit.
She was making them on Easter Sunday and I watched her do it, then grabbed some paper and copied down the recipe. 
And last Friday I baked my first batch.
(These are the bottom of the rolls before they are flipped. The "sticky" part is still on the bottom as are the nuts, heh, heh,heh...)
I took them into work on Saturday. And judging from the comments, I did Nay proud.
So try these yourself!
NANAY'S STICKY BUNS
Nanay makes these with a Kitchen Aid mixer, but I just used my bread machine. And if you want to make the dough by hand, that would be just fine-the potato makes this a nice flexible dough.
Nay told me that she found the filling wayyy too sweet, so she cut the sugar down by over half and the same for the corn syrup. Those are the measurements given here.If you want the original figures, it used 2 cups of brown sugar and 1/3 cup of corn syrup.
I also substituted canola oil for some of the butter in the syrup and it worked well--just make sure to stir the syrup thoroughly.
DOUGH:
2/3 cup mashed potatoes (you can use instant potatoes----don't add salt or butter!)
1 cup warm water (if you boiled potatoes for the mash, use the cooking water)
1/3 cup sugar
6 T oil (corn or canola, NOT olive!)
1 t salt
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 1/2 c flour
2 1/4 t (or 1 packet) yeast
Combine ingredients in your bread machine--the flour should go in last and the yeast on top of the flour. Set your machine for a DOUGH cycle. (If you are using a mixer, put the dough in a covered bowl and let it rise for an hour.)
When rise is completed, you can reset your machine to knead for 2-3 minutes and then rise for 90 more. Or you can remove the dough from the machine, knead it briefly, put the dough in a covered bowl and let it rise for another 90 minutes.
While it is rising, prepare the baking pans and the syrup:
You can bake this in any sort of pan you like. It makes about 24 rolls, and I baked 18 of them in a heavy All Clad lasagna pan and the rest in an 8x8 glass pan. But whatever you use, LINE IT--these get sticky! I used the "release" foil AND sprayed the pans with cooking spray.
SYRUP:
1/2 lb + 4 T butter
3/4 c brown sugar
2 T & 1 1/2 t dark brown corn syrup
Melt the butter and stir in the sugar and syrup. Pour the syrup into the pan and sprinkle chopped walnuts (about 1 cup) on top of the syrup.
MAKING THE ROLLS: You can find videos showing this technique HERE and HERE. The British recipe is similar except that it adds the syrup afterwards. The All Food recipe is for cinnamon rolls, but the technique is the same.
Divide the dough in half. Roll each half on a floured board (and the dough may be sticky--don't panic, just toss on flour) into a 10x16 rectangle.
Brush with melted butter or marge (and I used that spray marge)
Sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar. You can buy a commercial blend or make your own with 4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 cup sugar. Save the leftovers in a jar for more buns or for cinnamon toast!
Starting at the long end, carefully roll the dough into a cylinder. I never can roll dough like this neatly, but it always comes out fine, so if you're not a neatnik (a Yiddishism by the way), don't fret.
Cut the dough into 12 slices. You can use a serrated edged knife for this, or the "dental floss" technique, if you have unflavored floss about. Place the slices flat in the baking pan. It's fine to crowd them--they're intended to rise and form one big sheet. Let them rise for another hour.
Bake them at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes until they look golden brown and gorgeous. (Test the center roll with a knife point for doneness) Remove them from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes.
Last step--and this can be tricky! Have a plate, foil covered sheet pan or something else to put the rolls on. Invert the plate or pan on top of the pan of rolls.
Then make sure you've got mitts or a pot holder to grab the pan with because you will now flip the pan over so the rolls fall onto the plate/sheet pan. Remove the pan and admire your rolls!
They taste fine cold, but warm buns are best! Reheat for 7-10 minutes at 350 degrees
