Cinnamon buns - what went wrong?!

[Dancergirl]

I am gutted.

Tried cinnamon buns for the first time today using a Mary Berry recipe. First problem - the dough was too sticky to form into strands so I put mounds on dough on the baking tray.

Next problem - the buggers wouldn't rise, they were supposed to double in size

Eventually I put them in the oven un-risen. Recipe said they take 30-40 minutes so I set the timer for 30 mins and checked them after 25 - they were burnt

I now have 20 rock hard things that look like bad Yorkshire puddings. The dds say they're not too bad on the inside, they are being nice!

I have since checked the yeast, said best before a few months ago but as it was dried I didn't think it would matter. Or does it?

Waahhhh. That's 1 KILO of flour plus associated other ingredients I have wasted

I've often had no luck using dried yeast, either. I think it does have to be very fresh.

I'm afraid putting them in the oven even though they hadn't risen in the proving stage was doomed to disaster

Worth making sure everything (bowl, etc) is nice and warm as you bring the dough together, and be sure to prove it in a cosy (but not too hot) spot. But I'm no expert. In general the best luck I've had with yeast-based recipes has either been when I've managed to get hold of fresh yeast (a friendly local bakery sold me some) or by using a packet mix! I've turned out some lovely bread and rolls using these - though the ingredients seem to be just the same as making it 'from scratch', ie flour, yeast, salt etc.

I wish they had worked for you as they sound delicious. Bless the DDs for being so nice about them!

I've had great success with this recipe www.goodhousekeeping.co.uk/food/recipes/sticky-cinnamon-rolls. Does it differ greatly? It has a double rise.

Thank you

shadow your recipe looks sort of similar but mine didn't say heat the milk so much, just use tepid. Did you use dried yeast with it?

What temperature is it in the UK at the moment??
I never had much success with yeast til I moved somewhere HOT. The house is constantly cooled to 25C. My bread and cinnamon rolls have worked!!! Tho I really like the look of that good housekeeping recipie, however badly written it is 400g strong flour, I assume, and 2 sets of cinnamon?? but wouldn't be heating the milk that far and cooling - probably melt butter, warm milk in microwave, and use to take the chill off the flour from the freezer. But then I don't tend to follow recipies accurately!!!!

Yes I wondered about that 400g dessert! In my recipe it said to use normal plain flour.....

Which yeast did you use? Some dried yeasts you need to activate in liquid before use, and if you aren't careful you can bugger up the liquid ratios.

Sounds like a combination of things - the yeast age does make a difference, and the lick of rising suggests it was past it's best - but temperature and time are also important. I don't have much luck getting dough to rise at room temp, it either needs somewhere like an airing cupboard for a few hours, or a much slower rise overnight in the fridge.

And the stickiness of the dough suggests that even though the recipe specified plain flour, strong might have worked better.

Yeah old yeast won't rise. I found that out the hard way too.

It was Allinsons quick yeast, you just add it to the dough.

When I feel like it I might try again with really fresh yeast.

They make it look so easy on Bake Off!

But you've got to make these mistakes to succeed right?

Yes, you have to make mistakes with baking to figure out what works. I only realised how important fresh yeast when I made a batch of bread which didn't rise because the yeast was old, and I only realised how important sufficient time to rise was when I got held up and left a batch of dough to rise for twice as long as usual - people commented on how nice the resulting bread was.

Allinsons wont work if added directly to dough. You have to prove it separately in a bowl until it froths and then add to the mix. It is a shit yeast. Never works for me. I usually get the Doves farm or fresh yeast from a bakery

They do a quick one though, where you don't have to do that

Thanks all, you fab bakers, some great tips

I will chuck out the Allinsons and try something else next time.