Thursday, August 13, 2009

Cinnamon Raisin Bread Swirl for Breakfast

Mmmm. Breakfast was yummy. Haven't had one like this in a while. Cinnamon raisin bread swirl, coffee, the NYT online, and the rain outside made this morning almost surreal.



Anyway. The bread came out great!

Just a few adaptations to the recipe. I soaked my raisins in water for about 11 hours in the fridge. I was reading on-line that you do this so the ones that touch the pan don't burn. And sure enough. They didn't burn. So I recommend doing this. Also I think you can cut back a little on the cinnamon sugar mixture as when I pulled mine out of the pans the filling started gooing out a bit. Or that could be because I just didn't roll them tight enough.


Go this recipe from Donuts to Delirium. It is an adaptation from the William Sonoma bread book supposedly. I was intimidated reading it at first and worried that it wouldn't come out right. But what the hell. Go for broke right? So I tried it. A full batch to. I thought I would gamble with it. It would either come out or be a complete failure. And thanfully it came out!

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. active dry yeast

3 Tbs. granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water (105° to 115°F)

1 cup warm milk (105° to 115°F)

3 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

1 Tbs. salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

6 to 6 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more as needed

3/4 cup golden raisins

3/4 cup dark raisins

For the filling:

2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar mixed with 4 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a bowl, sprinkle the yeast and a pinch of the granulated sugar over 1⁄2 cup of the water and stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the remaining 3/4 cup water, the milk, butter, the remaining granulated sugar, salt, egg and 2 cups of the flour. Beat on medium speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add the yeast mixture and 1⁄2 cup of the flour and beat for 1 minute. Add the raisins, then beat in the remaining flour, 1⁄2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Switch to the dough hook. Knead on medium-low speed, adding flour 1 Tbs. at a time if the dough sticks, until smooth and elastic, about 4 minutes. Transfer the dough to a greased deep bowl and turn to coat it. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Lightly grease two 9-by-5-inch loaf pans. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Divide the dough in half and roll or pat each half into an 8-by-12-inch rectangle. Lightly sprinkle each rectangle with half of the filling, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Beginning at a narrow end, tightly roll up each rectangle into a compact log. Pinch the ends and the long seam to seal in the filling. Place each log, seam side down, in a prepared pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until the dough is about 1 inch above the rim of each pan, 1 to 1 1⁄2 hours.

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Bake until the loaves are golden brown and pull away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn the loaves out onto wire racks and let cool completely. Makes two 9-by-5-inch loaves.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Bread, by Beth Hensperger (Simon & Schuster, 2002).

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