It's time to try something new! Cinnamon Raisin Brioche Loaf
This recipe is inspired by both cinnamon rolls,
a chocolate coffee cake from Martha Stewart, and a great Brioche recipe from
Julia Child's book The Way to Cook.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche |
A bit of a labour of love but worth every second. Make 2 at the same time.. one for the freezer.
See how after the jump...
This makes one big loaf.
For this recipe I used:
2 1/4 Teaspoons of dry-active yeast
3 Tablespoons of Warm Water
2 Teaspoons of Sugar
3 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons of Salt
1/3 Cup of Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon*
6 Ounces of Unsalted Butter
4 Large Eggs
1/3 Cup Milk
For the filling:
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/2 Cup Whey Low Brown Sugar*
1 1/2 Cups of Raisins*
2 Teaspoons of Cinnamon*
I started by gathering all of the ingredients together and cutting the butter into small pieces and storing them in the freezer until needed.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Ingredients |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Cut up Butter |
I proofed the yeast by sprinkling the yeast over warm water mixed with the sugar and letting it sit for 5 minutes until nice and bubbly. The water should not be over 110 degrees.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Yeast |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Proofing the Yeast |
I gently whisked together the milk and eggs and set them aside.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Eggs and Milk |
I added the flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon to a
sifter and sifted them into a bowl. I added the flour mixture to the
food processor along with the well chilled butter and processed them together in pulses until small granules of butter could be seen.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Sifted Flour and Cinnamon |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Adding the Butter |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Processed |
With the food processor running I added the egg/milk mixture to the flour until a ball formed. A ball did not form for me so I must have added the liquid too quickly. I removed the final mixture on to a flour covered counter and kneaded it for 1 or 2 minutes until a silky texture was achieved. I gathered the dough into a nice ball.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Adding the Eggs and Milk |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Until just Combined |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Turned out onto Counter |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - After a Gentle Knead |
I placed the ball in a
glass dish with a towel over it and put it in a warm spot. The warm spot was my oven heated to 170 and turned off. I let the mixture rise for about 90 minutes until it reached 1 1/2 times its original size.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - After the Rise |
I then flipped the dough onto a floured counter and squished the gas out if it while spreading into a rectangle. I folded the rectangle into thirds and spread the dough out again. I once again folded the dough into thirds and eased the package into a nice ball.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Rolled out |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - First Fold |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Second Fold |
I placed the ball back into a
glass bowl and covered it with plastic wrap and placed it back in a warm spot for another 90 minutes or so until it had doubled in size.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Ready for the Second Rise |
Next I gathered the filling ingredients together and mixed the Whey Low Brown Sugar and the cinnamon together. I lightly sprayed a
loaf pan with oil spray.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Cinnamon and Whey Low Brown Sugar |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Cinnamon Mixture, Raisins, and Sour Cream |
I took the dough and spread it out into a rectangle about 18 x 11.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - 18 x 11 Rolled out Dough |
I spread the sour cream evenly across the dough followed by the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Next came the raisins*.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Mixtures Spread Out |
I rolled the loaf up on the long side being careful to keep the raisins in. Once rolled I bent the log in half then braided it slightly. I put the whole loaf into the loaf pan , covered it with plastic and put it back into the warm place.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Rolling it Up |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Bending the Roll |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Braiding the Roll |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Ready for the Pan |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Ready for the Final Rise |
It took about another hour for the loaf to rise again. I warmed the oven to 350 and placed the unwrapped
loaf pan into the oven to back for 45 to 60 minutes with an
internal temperature of 200 degrees.
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Risen and Ready for the Oven |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - It's Done! |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - The Oh So Long Cooling Time |
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| Cinnamon Raisin Brioche - Ready to Eat |
When the loaf was done I turned it out onto a
cooling rack and let it cool for 2 hours.
Light... airy.... yum!
A couple of things I would do different for next time:
- Increase the cinnamon in the bread dough to 2 or 3 tablespoons
- Increase the brown sugar for the filling to 3/4 of a cup
- Increase the cinnamon for the filling to 4 teapsoons
- Increase the raisins for the filling to 2 cups
- I would spread the extra 1/2 cup of raisins more to the sides of the dough before rolling up. This will produce more raisins at the one end
- I would use an egg wash too coat the loaf before baking
- I used extra long Chicago Metallic's Loaf Pans the I believe are now discontinued, you could easily use their 1.5 lb loaf pan
Happy baking!
