Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Dorie Greenspan is a lovely lady. Recently I've been making sooo many things from her book Baking From My Home To Yours. Everything turns out so lovely. Here is a recipe from the book for cinnamon swirl bread. Sadly I didn't get a good picture of the bread before we ate it all up. I do have a picture of the bread in french toast form though, if you would like to see. This bread is not too complex, and fun to roll. I'm just imagining all of the delicious possibilities you could roll up inside this bread, beyond cinnamon and raisins.

{I've also included some side notes and tips in the recipe.}

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread from Baking From My Home To Yours, by Dorie Greenspan 

For the Bread:

{ 1 packet active dry yeast / 1/4 cup sugar, plus a pinch / 1 1/4 cups just-warm-to-the-touch-whole milk/
1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature / 1/4 teaspoon salt / 1 large egg /
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract / pinch of freshly grated nutmeg / 3 1/4 to 4 cups all purpose flour }

For the Swirl:

{ 1 Tablespoon sugar / 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon / 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder / 1 cup moist, plump raisins* (dark or golden) /
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to a spreadable consistency }

*I used dark purple, organic raisins. These or other organic kinds work especially well, because they are so large and succulent.

To Make The Bread
Put the yeast in a small bowl, toss in the pinch of sugar and stir in 1/4 cup of the warm milk. Let rest for 3 minutes, then stir--the yeast may not have dissolved completely and it may not have bubbled, but it should be soft.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the remaining 1 cup milk, the butter and the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and mix on low speed for a minute or two. Add the salt, egg vanilla, and nutmeg, and mix for a minute. In all likelihood, the mixture will look unpleasantly curdly, but do not worry. Add the yeast mixture and beat on medium-low speed for 1 minute more.

Turn the mixture off and add 2 3/4 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed just until you work the flour into the liquids--you'll have a sticky mix.  If you've got a dough hook, switch to it now. Add another 1 cup flour, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the dough for a couple of minutes. If the dough does not come together and almost clean the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Keep the mixer speed at medium and knead the dough for about 3 minutes, or until it is smooth and has a lovely buttery sheen. The dough will be very soft, much too soft to knead by hand.

Butter a large bowl, turn the dough into the bowl and cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place {I usually preheat the oven to 170 degrees F, turn the oven off, and place the dough in there} and let the dough rise until it is doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.

Scrape the dough into a large piece of plastic wrap, wrap it and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm enough to be rolled easily. (You can also put it in the fridge overnight if you want to roll the next day.)

To Make The Swirl 

Butter a 9-x-5 inch loaf pan. Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa. Check that the raisins are nice and moist; if they're not, steam them for a minute then dry them well. { Mine were slightly dry so I steamed them by putting a sieve in a pan with 1 inch of boiling water for about 2 minutes. Then take them out and dry the raisins on a tea towel }

Put the dough on a large work surface lightly dusted with flour, lightly dust the top of the dough and roll the dough into a rectangle about 12 x 18 inches. Gently smear 2 Tablespoons of the butter over these surface of the dough--this is most easily done with your fingers. Sprinkle over the sugar mixture and scatter over the raisins. Starting from a short side of the dough, roll the dough up jelly roll fashion, making sure to roll the dough snugly. Fit the dough into the buttered pan, seam side down, and tuck the ends under the loaf.

Cover the pan loosely with wax paper and set in a warm place; let the dough rise until it comes just a little above the edge of the pan, about 45 minutes.

Baking the Dough

When the dough has almost fully risen, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. {If you warmed the dough in the oven make sure you take it out before you preheat the oven!} Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter, and brush the top of the loaf with the butter. Put the pan on the baking sheet and bake the bread for about 20 minutes. Cover loosely with a foil tent and bake for another 25 minutes or so, until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when the bottom of the pan is tapped. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then unmold. Invert the bread and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack.