I don't want to say something polarizing like "Who doesn't love cinnamon bread?", but really, who DOESN'T love cinnamon bread? And if you sneak a little cocoa into the swirl like Dorie Greenspan does, all the better in my book.
I made this a week before leaving on my vacation, and I had no raisins in the pantry. Being lazy and cheap (my main drivers), I passed on making a run to the store to buy some. I thought about adding chopped pecans, but again, I'm lazy, so I didn't.
This lovely, rich yeast bread didn't need either raisins or pecans. It was delicious without. I used instant yeast (my eternal gratitude to Tracey for posting the link for a yeast conversion calculator). I mixed the dough more like the technique in The Bread Baker's Apprentice than in Baking From My Home to Yours (dump most everything in the mixer with the dough hook and turn it on--you can do this when you use instant yeast as it doesn't need to proof).
I mixed the dough, let it rise and shaped it in the evening and let the shaped loaf rise in the fridge overnight. In the morning, I pulled it out an hour before baking to take the chill off, then baked it as Dorie suggested. I highly recommend breaking up the preparation this way as you can have warm cinnamon bread for breakfast without having to get up at 4 AM. Finally, I brushed the hot-from-the-oven loaf with butter and coated the top with cinnamon sugar, a suggestion from The Bread Baker's Apprentice.
The resulting loaf was delicious, familiar yet even better than traditional cinnamon bread. It was almost as good as the BBA cinnamon bread I made last year.
If you want to start a riot, bring just one loaf of this delicious bread into your office. Swarms of my coworkers made it to the break room after the last crumbs had been devoured, and they were deeply disappointed.
Many thanks to Susan of Food.Baby who chose this recipe for all of the Tuesdays with Dorie bakers to make this week. It's from the book Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. Susan has the recipe up on her post.
P.S.: Have you entered my giveaway? You can find it here.
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Lethally Delicious is on vacation! I'll be back in a couple of days so responses to comments may be a bit delayed.
30 comments:
It looks wonderful...need to make this without the raisins sometime to see how it works as cinnamon bread...from the looks of yours, it look excellent! I loved the orange in the recipe, was different and refreshing.
MMmmmm. That looks amazing. I'm a huge fan of instant yeast as well.
It looks great! My loaf is a funny shape, lol. I also thought of adding nuts, mainly because the rolling out & cinnamon sugar reminded me of cinnamon rolls and I add nuts to mine. I can't wait to slice into mine in the morning!
We loved this bread, too. Without the raisins. I always mix all the dry ingredients together, then add the liquids. Yeasts nowadays can handle that. I learned it while taking an artisan bread class several years ago; we used BBA as the textbook, so now I translate that technique to most everything bread I bake.
Yeast doughs are my favorite. Some people get scared off by it but i love the time flexibility you get.
Martha inspired Dorie Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Looks gorgeous! I love cinnamon sugar, yum!
I did a little sugar on top but not enough in hindsight...will do lots more on top next time!! I hear so many good things about BBA--it may have to be my next cookbook purchase!
Your bread looks lovely!
Love the sugary topping. Was wishing the crust had been a little softer--maybe sugar would have helped.
It's perfect! Im sure everyone loved it at the office! I added some cinnamon chips to mine and it was mighty tasty!
Ah really? Only one loaf? Seriously, Leslie, you know they love you for your bread? he he JK Thanks so much for the BBA tips. That is awesome! Your loaf looks amazing, I can only imagine how good it tasted. I think I am the same way, no add ins here either. Beautiful loaf, no big surprise. Great post too.
AmyRuth
Looks great, Leslie! I wish I'd thought to brush mine with butter and add cinnamon sugar to the outside--my crust needed some help. Like you said, good, but not as good as PR's. =)
your loaf is gorgeous, leslie! i can't wait to try the bba loaf for comparison.
also, thanks for your comments about my freezer on my blog last week. it's not here yet, but any day...and the berries are here. i can't wait for this delicious revolution:)
hope you are enjoying your vacation. the cinnamon and sugar on the top is a great idea...
Your loaf looks fantastic! I love the idea of sprinkling cinnamon and sugar on top of the baked loaf!
Beautiful!
Beautiful loaf! No raisins required. :D
Gorgeous! Never thought about pecans, but I bet they'd be great in this!
Perfect looking bread! I made cinnamon rolls, but seeing all the nice swirls, I really want to make the bread sometime.
Your loaf looks gorgeous - and I bet it tasted as good as it looks. I sprinkled extra sugar on top of mine before baking after reading your post on the forum - perhaps not as good as your suggestion, but still fab.
Love it! Beautiful as always!
Your cinnamon bread looks fluffy and light. Great job! Now I'm going to check out your BBA cinnamon bread that you liked better than this one! Have a safe trip back home, iA. If you're stopping in Amsterdam for your flight back, make sure you check the "AH to go" or Village Market grocery stores in Schiphol airport. Get yourself some Stroopwafels and/or Stroopkoeken, Cote d'Or Chocolate or Droste Chocolate!!
Leslie, that bread looks so wonderful. I love that you added the cinnamon sugar on top! Beautiful!! Even without raisins. :) Hope you had (are having?) a wonderful time.
Oh girl, cinnamon swirl bread is my favorite. This looks so delicious.
I agree Leslie - how could anyone not love this type of bread? Yours looks perfect! Great tip about sticking it in the fridge overnight and baking the next morning. I'm definitely trying that next time I make this bread :)
I'd totally forgotten I posted that link. I usually use the conversions from Cook's Illustrated now, which I think are similar.
Seriously, homemade bread is the best, especially with cinnamon. I always don't think I have enough time to make yeast breads, so I love when I realize I can divide it over two days.
Dearest Leslie, your loaf looks so delicious I want some more !! I used instant too and it worked very well. I hope Denmark was great but wished you had chosen Rome instead !!
No raisins in your pantry? I can't quite get over that. It looks wonderful, though. I've made the BBA cinnamon bread and it's awesome! I prefer lots of cinnamon and no cocoa.
Looks great.
Mimi
That is one beautiful bread. I like the idea of dusting with cinnamon/butter on the top. Definitely an increase in the flavor.
Your loaf looks perfect! Good to know the overnight rest technique worked so well. Might have to try that next time. Thanks for baking with me :-)
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