Sticky buns

Family Dumpling's inability to keep house plants alive is legendary. Perhaps it was the bile and venom that saturated the air at home or the tendency of the cats to nibble on the spider plants on the piano, but the damn things never survived more than a few weeks. PJ and I have managed to keep our Freddy Krueger-style plant on the go, largely because it only requires watering once a month -- the salesgirl swore that it was impossible to kill. You can therefore imagine my concern when it came to keeping my sourdough starter active. However, months later, and the stuff is still bubbling away, even returning to life after a week at a time in the fridge. But this presents a challenge in itself: What to do with this bounteous supply of yeastiness? After all, a Dumpling cannot live on bread alone, regardless of how tangy and tasty it might be. Once again, the InterWeb has come to my rescue, providing page after page of sourdough recipes. In recent weeks, we've had chocolate cake, red chilli biscuits (US scones), molasses spice biscuits, and -- perhaps best of all -- sticky buns.

 

These are fabulous: a cross between an upside-down cake, Chelsea buns, and cinnamon buns. They're soft and fluffy on the inside, with a toffee-style crunchy coating. High in the essential food groups of sugar and fat and with slivers of almond, they go wonderfully with a cup of coffee and a good book. These are buns that really stay by you -- and that's a good thing.