Showing posts with label yeast bread recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yeast bread recipes. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

Lassy Raisin Bread #BreadBakers

This Lassy Raisin Bread is made with molasses, whence comes the name. It is a classic recipe from Newfoundland, often enjoyed during the holidays. It's a lovely soft loaf that is delicious plain and even better toasted and buttered!

Food Lust People Love: This Lassy Raisin Bread is made with molasses, whence comes the name. It is a classic recipe from Newfoundland, often enjoyed during the holidays. It's a lovely soft loaf that is delicious plain and even better toasted and buttered!

The end of the year has snuck up on me and I can’t imagine I’m the only one who feels that way. I was determined to find time to bake bread for this final Bread Bakers event though because I have finally figured out where to buy fresh yeast here in Houston (YAY!) and I just love how it smells and tastes in freshly baked bread. 

I chose to make this particular loaf because 1. My husband loves raisin bread, especially when it’s toasted and buttered and 2. this month my Bread Baker friends and I are sharing holiday breads from around the world. 

There are probably as many recipes for Newfoundland lassy or molasses bread as we have neighbors to my very north, but one thing they all have in common is the requisite molasses, generally the milder unsulphured kind, and raisins. The traditional loaves are shaped by making three balls of the dough and placing them in a row in a bread pan. 

Lassy Raisin Bread

My recipe is adapted from one on Rock Recipes which makes a very impressive FOUR loaves. They really, really love their lassy raisin bread! And once you've tried a slice, you'll see why.

Ingredients
1/4 cup or 60ml lukewarm water
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon active dry yeast or 20g fresh yeast
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 - 3 cups or 312-375g flour, plus extra for kneading
1/3 cup or 80ml lukewarm milk
1/4 cup or 60ml molasses
5 teaspoons cooled melted butter, plus extra for brushing the baked loaf, optional
1 egg, beaten lightly
3/4 cup or 100g raisins

Method
In the bowl of an electric mixer that has a dough hook, stir the yeast and brown sugar into the lukewarm water and then let stand without stirring for 10 minutes. It should get nice and fluffy if your yeast is alive.


Add in 1 cup or 125g of the flour along with the salt, butter, warm milk and the beaten egg.


Using the regular paddle of your electric mixer, mix slowly for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is smooth with no lumps. Whoops, almost forgot our namesake molasses! Add that in and beat again. 


Switch to the dough hook at this point and begin to slowly incorporate the remaining flour. 


You may not need to use all of the flour. This is a soft dough that’s supposed to be a little sticky.  


Add the raisins at this point and continue to mix with the bread hook until the raisins are evenly distributed throughout the dough.


Place the dough in a large bowl and cover the bowl with cling film or a damp tea towel. 


Leave it to rest and rise for two hours. 


Punch the dough down and knead it for a few minutes by hand on a lightly floured work surface.


Divide the dough into three even pieces. I use my scale here to weigh the whole dough then divide by three. My dough weighed 760g so each ball weighed about 253g. Form each piece into a nice round ball. 


Line a medium loaf pan with baking parchment. (Mine was 9 x 5 in or 23 x 13cm.) 

Place the 3 balls of dough in your prepared loaf pan. 


Cover with greased cling film and allow the dough to rise until it is about 2 inches or 5cm above the rim of the pan, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours, depending on room temperature. 


[As you can see from the photo, pretty sure I overproved mine, making a strategical error when I decided I had time to nip out to the grocery store for salmon. Reader, as it turned out, I did not. While I was disappointed in the outside looks of this wonderful bread, the flavor and soft, tender crumb consoled me.]

Bake at 350°F or 180°C for about 40 minutes. The top and bottom crust should have good color. I tented mine halfway through with foil because it was browning so quickly. Check on yours in case you might want to do the same. 

Once baked, turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool. 


Brush the top with melted butter, if desired, to soften the top crust. Also, more butter is always better was one of my mom's rules. She was a very clever woman.


Leave to cool completely before slicing to serve. I'm trying to think of it as "rustic," not misshapen.

Food Lust People Love: This Lassy Raisin Bread is made with molasses, whence comes the name. It is a classic recipe from Newfoundland, often enjoyed during the holidays. It's a lovely soft loaf that is delicious plain and even better toasted and buttered!

Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: This Lassy Raisin Bread is made with molasses, whence comes the name. It is a classic recipe from Newfoundland, often enjoyed during the holidays. It's a lovely soft loaf that is delicious plain and even better toasted and buttered!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which, as I mentioned above, means it’s time for my Bread Bakers to share their recipes. Many thanks to Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm for hosting and for choosing this lovely theme. Check out all the international holiday breads below. 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.



Pin this Lassy Raisin Bread! 

Food Lust People Love: This Lassy Raisin Bread is made with molasses, whence comes the name. It is a classic recipe from Newfoundland, often enjoyed during the holidays. It's a lovely soft loaf that is delicious plain and even better toasted and buttered!

.

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Made with fresh yeast, this cinnamon raisin bread has a delightfully soft crumb and is perfect for breakfast or snack time, plain or toasted and buttered! 

Food Lust People Love: Made with fresh yeast, this cinnamon raisin bread has a delightfully soft crumb and is perfect for breakfast or snack time, plain or toasted and buttered!

If you’ve been reading along here for a while, you know that since my husband retired, we have been dividing our time between the United States and the Channel Islands. To keep up with what is happening in both places, I belong to a lot of Facebook groups. 

For all its faults, Facebook is a great place to follow small businesses, find out about local events as well as get restaurant and shopping recommendations, etc. Recently on one of my Channel Island groups, someone asked where a person could buy fresh yeast. 

I love baking with fresh yeast so I immediately saved the post so I could check back for updates. Various people chimed in with suggestions which absolutely thrilled me. One of the commenters said the Polish shop in town sold it and they were right! 

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Some of my seedless raisins were quite large so I chopped them in half to get a better distribution. If you struggle to find fresh yeast, you can substitute 2 1/4 teaspoons or 7g of active dry yeast.

Ingredients
For the bread dough:
4 cups or 500g all-purpose flour, plus extra flour for kneading and dusting
.7 oz or 20g fresh yeast (see note above for substitute)
2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/3 cups or 320ml warm water
1 egg yolk (save the white for the egg wash)
Canola or other light oil

For the filling:
3/4 cup or 165g/4 x3 seedless raisins
1/3 cup or 67g sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the egg wash: 
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Optional for decoration: 
2 tablespoons pearl sugar

Method
Put your flour in a large mixing bowl.  Make a well in the center and pop in your yeast, sugar and salt.  


Pour in half the water and mix with a fork by incorporating flour from the edges of the well little by little.  


Now add in the rest of the water and the egg yolk and mix the whole lot.  


When you have one thick dough ball, knead it on a lightly floured surface (or in a stand mixer) until it is stretchy and supple.
  

Put the tiniest amount of canola oil in the bottom of the bowl, spread it around a little, and put the dough ball in. Cover with a teacloth or shower cap and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes. 


Meanwhile, prepare your loaf pan by lining it with baking parchment. 

After half an hour, punch the dough down and knead it a little bit more, for just a minute or two.  


Use a rolling pin to roll it out into a big rectangle. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle the mixture over the dough. Do the same with the raisins. 


Roll the rectangle up and tuck the ends under. 


Place it in your prepared bread pan, seam side down.


With a very sharp knife, cut three shallow slits in the top of the dough and sprinkle again with flour. 


Cover the pan with your teacloth or shower cap and put it back in the warm place for 30 minutes to one hour for the final rising. (I set my timer for 30 minutes and then started preheating my oven to 400°F or 200°C, putting the bread in when the oven was hot, after 45 minutes rising time.)

Whisk the egg white and water together and brush the top of the loaf. 


Sprinkle on the pearl sugar to decorate, if using. I also added a light dusting of ground cinnamon because, why not? 


Bake for about 30 minutes or until the loaf is golden on the outside and sounds hollow when tapped with a knife. If you are an instant thermometer using person, the internal temperature should be about 200°F or 93°C.

Leave to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing to serve. 

Food Lust People Love: Made with fresh yeast, this cinnamon raisin bread has a delightfully soft crumb and is perfect for breakfast or snack time, plain or toasted and buttered!

Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: Made with fresh yeast, this cinnamon raisin bread has a delightfully soft crumb and is perfect for breakfast or snack time, plain or toasted and buttered!

Enjoy!

It’s Sunday FunDay and today our group is sharing yeast bread recipes. Many thanks to our host, Amy from Amy's Cooking Adventures. Check out the links below. 

 
We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.


Pin this Cinnamon Raisin Bread! 

Food Lust People Love: Made with fresh yeast, this cinnamon raisin bread has a delightfully soft crumb and is perfect for breakfast or snack time, plain or toasted and buttered!

.

Tuesday, October 8, 2024

Classic Brioche à Tête #BreadBakers

This classic brioche à tête recipe is simple to make, with very little hands on time, no stand mixer required, for a loaf that is rich and buttery. Start one day ahead. 

Food Lust People Love: This classic brioche à tête recipe is simple to make, with very little hands on time, no stand mixer required, for a loaf that is rich and buttery. Start one day ahead.

I own two proper brioche pans, one from my years living in Paris and yet another, believe it or not, that was purchased in Cairo, Egypt, It was made by the French manufacturer Tefal though so I guess that makes it authentic. 

If you search the internet for brioche recipes, you will find literally millions and millions. Google says an estimated 25.000,000 in fact. All the top hits seem to be baked in regular rectangular loaf pans though.

I was determined to create a classic loaf using one of my pans. Took me a bit but I finally figured out where I was going wrong! I needed to search for brioche à tête or brioche à Parisienne. Who knew? In Paris the bakeries just said brioche or possibly grosse brioche and petite brioche (sometimes with flavor options) on the boards.

Here's a little fun fact for you: While brioche in proper French translates to sweet bun, colloquially, it also means beer gut. In case you have a friend who needs ribbing in French. 

Back to my quest: I was delighted to find a video by baker extraordinaire Anna Olson making little brioche buns where she showed the proper way to make the tête or head that is supposed to poke out on top. Is my tête too small? Absolutely. Live and learn. Next time I will make it bigger! 

Classic Brioche à Tête

You can warm the whole amount of milk (3 oz or 90ml) needed, use a portion to activate the yeast then pour the rest in when making the dough. Please note that you do need to start a day ahead of when you want to bake the brioche. This gives the dough the time it needs to chill, making it easier to handle. 

Ingredients
To activate the yeast:
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup or 60ml milk, warmed to body temperature

For the brioche dough:
2 1/2 cups or 312g flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 eggs
1 fl oz or 30ml milk, warmed to body temperature
3 oz or 85g butter, softened at room temperature, plus extra for greasing the pan

For the egg wash:
1 egg
2 tablespoons water

Method
Step one is to activate the yeast. Put the yeast in a small bowl with the flour and warm milk. Stir to combine, set aside while you get the dry ingredients together.


In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. 


Add the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients, along with the rest of the milk and the eggs. 


Stir with a stiff spoon or Danish whisk until well combined. 

Add in butter and mix again until it is completely incorporated.


The dough will be super sticky so tidy it up as best you can into a ball using a spatula. 


Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rest at room temperature for one hour.

Put the bowl in the refrigerator for 12 - 24 hours to chill the dough. 

When you are ready to bake, generously butter your brioche pan with softened butter and a pastry brush. 

Turn the chilled dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and press it out. 


Fold it over a couple of times then shape it into a firm ball. 


Use the side of your hand to make an indentation near one end of the ball, like you are trying to form a neck and head of dough on a dough body. Make your small ball bigger than mine for a more authentic look to the finished brioche!


Use your fingers to create a hole through the dough.


Tuck the "head" under and up through the hole. This will give the brioche its classic shape with the knob on top. 


Place the formed dough into your prepared brioche pan. 


Cover with cling film (buttered or greased so that it doesn't stick to the dough as it rises) and leave to rise for about 2 hours. As it nears the end of rising time, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C in a fan oven or 425°F or 218°C in a conventional oven.

Whisk the egg and water together to create the egg wash. 


Working from the outside inward, brush the brioche very lightly with the egg wash.


Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F or 180°C in a convection oven or 375°F or 190°C in a conventional oven.

Continue baking until the brioche is deep golden brown and the internal temperature reaches 205°F on an instant-read thermometer, 25 to 30 minutes more.

Remove from the oven and let the brioche cool in the pan for just 5 minutes. Any longer and condensation starts to form and your crust won't be lovely and crisp. 


Unmold onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Food Lust People Love: This classic brioche à tête recipe is simple to make, with very little hands on time, no stand mixer required, for a loaf that is rich and buttery. Start one day ahead.

Let the brioche cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Food Lust People Love: This classic brioche à tête recipe is simple to make, with very little hands on time, no stand mixer required, for a loaf that is rich and buttery. Start one day ahead.

Enjoy! 

Food Lust People Love: This classic brioche à tête recipe is simple to make, with very little hands on time, no stand mixer required, for a loaf that is rich and buttery. Start one day ahead.

It’s the second Tuesday of the month so that means it’s time for my fellow Bread Bakers to share their recipes. Our theme today, you might have guessed, is brioche-style bread. Many thanks to our host Kelly of A Messy Kitchen. Check out the links below. 

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.



Pin this Classic Brioche à Tête!

Food Lust People Love: This classic brioche à tête recipe is simple to make, with very little hands on time, no stand mixer required, for a loaf that is rich and buttery. Start one day ahead.

.