Monday, December 14, 2009

To die for Cinnamon Bread - seriously

I baked this on  whim late last night and it smelled so amazing that I stayed up past midnight to have a slice. Its a variation of the Cinnamon Raisin Bread recipe from Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day.

For the dough I used the Master Boule Recipe from Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day substituting 1 cup of beer for water - totally not a vital part of this recipe, I did it for fun. I had made the dough a few days before but it can easily be made the same day. This recipe can easily be halved or doubled. You could also make this with a wheat blend dough, brioche, buttermilk or gluten free dough. Please note that while the master recipe makes 4lbs of duogh, some of the recipes in these books make slightly different amts.

Initial Dough Prep time - 10 minutes
Initial Dough Rest time - 2 hrs

Master Boule Recipe Dough
1/3 c raw sugar (can sub white or brown sugar as well)
1.5 tsp cinnamon (give or take)
1 egg lightly whisked with 1 tsp of water
butter
flour
More sugar & cinnamon for sprinkling

Butter your loaf pan (8 or 9inch)

Follow step 5 on the master recipe.
I used about 1 lb of dough (size of a grapefruit, 1/4 of a full batch of master dough) but it would be better with 1.5 lbs (size of a cantaloupe, 1/3 of a batch of master dough).

Roll out your ball of dough on a floured surface to about 1/4inch thick, 8"x12". It does not have to be perfect.
Brush dough with egg wash - right to the edges. Put rest of egg wash in the fridge for later. Cover dough liberally with sugar & cinnamon, leaving a 1" empty space on one of the short edges. Dot on little bits of butter about every 2-3" (optional). Begin rolling up dough starting with edge that does not have the empty space. Pinch ends (fold over if you want a very tight seal) and pinch along seam.

Set in loaf pan. Allow to rest in a warm location for 40m if using just-made dough,  1hr 40m if using refridgerated.
About 10m before baking:
Preheat oven to 375F. I did not use a baking stone in the oven or a pan with water for steam.
Brush top of dough with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar & cinnamon to taste.

Bake for 35-45min - this is a wet dough and you really can't dry it out but you CAN under bake it.
Remove from pan and allow to cool on a cooling rack.
Texture is best if cooled completely before cutting. Good luck with that :D

Variations (I haven't tested these but they sound nummy)...
Before rolling it up, sprinkle on top of the sugar & cinnamon;
Raisins
Chopped rehydrated dried cherries
diced fresh apple (I think a tart one like macintosh would be lovely)
chopped pecans
wild blueberries (if using frozen, thaw and drain well first)

I made it last night, it was ready at midnight and its already gone :O

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