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Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls

By America's Test Kitchen

Published on November 8, 2011

Time

1½ hours

Yield

Serves 8

Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls

Ingredients

Orange Glaze

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces/50 grams) light brown sugar ¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Orange-Cinnamon Filling

½ cup packed (3½ ounces/99 grams) light brown sugar ¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon grated orange zest ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves ⅛ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Biscuit Dough

2 ¾ cups (13¾ ounces/390 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface2 tablespoons granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Before You Begin

Don't let the buns sit in the pan for more than 5 minutes after baking. The glaze will begin to harden and the buns will stick.

Instructions

  1. For the glaze: Grease 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray. Bring all ingredients to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until mixture thickens and clings to back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Cool until glaze hardens, at least 20 minutes.
  2. For the filling: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except butter in bowl. Using fork, stir in butter until mixture resembles wet sand.
  3. For the dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and butter in small bowl. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until combined. Knead dough on lightly floured work surface until smooth, about 5 minutes.
  4. Roll dough into 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Pat filling into dough, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. Starting at one long end, roll dough into tight cylinder and pinch seam together. Cut log into 8 pieces and arrange cut side down on cooled glaze, placing 1 roll in center and remaining rolls around edge of pan.
  5. Bake until rolls are golden and glaze is darkened and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto platter. Let rolls sit 10 minutes before serving.
Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls

Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls

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By America's Test Kitchen
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Time

1½ hours

Yield

Serves 8

Ingredients

Orange Glaze

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces/50 grams) light brown sugar
¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Orange-Cinnamon Filling

½ cup packed (3½ ounces/99 grams) light brown sugar
¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Biscuit Dough

2 ¾ cups (13¾ ounces/390 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Ingredients

Orange Glaze

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces/50 grams) light brown sugar
¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Orange-Cinnamon Filling

½ cup packed (3½ ounces/99 grams) light brown sugar
¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Biscuit Dough

2 ¾ cups (13¾ ounces/390 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Ingredients

Orange Glaze

½ cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
¼ cup packed (1¾ ounces/50 grams) light brown sugar
¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Orange-Cinnamon Filling

½ cup packed (3½ ounces/99 grams) light brown sugar
¼ cup (1¾ ounces/50 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Biscuit Dough

2 ¾ cups (13¾ ounces/390 grams) all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Why This Recipe Works

Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls were the star attraction at a now-shuttered Hollywood tea room for more than half a century. But recipes we found for this lost classic produced sloppy, soggy rolls soaked through with glaze. We wanted a recipe that restored Tick Tock Orange Sticky Rolls to their original glory. To do this, we used biscuits made with buttermilk and melted butter instead of cream because they tasted great and stood up to our recipe’s glaze. Allowing the glaze to harden in the cake pan before adding the biscuits kept them from soaking up too much liquid. This step also allowed them to brown much better than they had when saturated with the orange syrup.

Before You Begin

Don't let the buns sit in the pan for more than 5 minutes after baking. The glaze will begin to harden and the buns will stick.

Instructions

  1. For the glaze: Grease 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray. Bring all ingredients to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until mixture thickens and clings to back of spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Cool until glaze hardens, at least 20 minutes.
  2. For the filling: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients except butter in bowl. Using fork, stir in butter until mixture resembles wet sand.
  3. For the dough: Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Whisk buttermilk and butter in small bowl. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until combined. Knead dough on lightly floured work surface until smooth, about 5 minutes.
  4. Roll dough into 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Pat filling into dough, leaving 1/2-inch border around edges. Starting at one long end, roll dough into tight cylinder and pinch seam together. Cut log into 8 pieces and arrange cut side down on cooled glaze, placing 1 roll in center and remaining rolls around edge of pan.
  5. Bake until rolls are golden and glaze is darkened and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then turn out onto platter. Let rolls sit 10 minutes before serving.

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