May 10, 2011 - 8:33pm
Finally, got around to this one!
Peter Reinhart's 'Cinnamon Raisin Walnut Bread' from TBBA. A very popular bread, made by and raved about by so many at TFL. It is very delicious and special as any Cinnamon bread could be, with it's nuts, I choose pecan over the walnut, though I have a humungous bag of each, I love pecans... I will make walnut next, they add their own special flavor to this bread. I also used brown sugar and cinnamon for the swirl, topping and crumb. Raisins, yes, my favorite 'golden'. I was a little short on the golden, so I also added some dark raisins.
Sylvia
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Sylvia, those are beautiful loves! You did a good job shaping and getting the layers to stick together. Did you brush with milk before rolling?
Hello and thank you, dvuong! I've used butter, milk, water...what works best for me is to lightly brush the top of your dough with egg white and then sprinkle on your cinnamon/sugar mixture and then roll up your dough tightly.
Sylvia
I think this is why I haven't been able to find my photos..so I'm on 'Chrome', also when I'm unable to veiw others photos, switching to 'Chrome' makes everything more viewer friendly :) and now it works..found my missing photo problem and was able to put in a better crumb shot. Layers stick together better, using egg white wash.
Center of Swirl - I have found that if I add a thick amount of cinn/sugar, nuts or whatever you want to nicely come up in the center of your swirl..just add the extra's, rather thick, along the edge of the very top of your dough, the part where you will begin rolling your dough first...you can even make a pattern, or say insert a row of fruit, it will look pretty when sliced.
Aaahaaa, found the lost photo's problem :))
Sylvia
I am among those for whom this is a favorite bread. And my wife, well, this is the only bread she loves enough to have baked herself (with a little advice and encouragement).
David
All your lovely bakes and comments about this bread has certainly been an encouragement! I have been making an effort to watch my sweets and loose a few lbs...so one loaf goes to my grandkids and Mike gets the half that's left :) I had better photos...but I'm doing something wrong and can't access them..I was lucky to get the small one for a crumb photo...I don't know why it was so small. The crumb was very nice, I added a little extra buttermilk...I love that this bread is made with buttermilk.
Sylvia
I also love this formula. In fact when my wife pulled the last loaf out of the freezer last weekend, she mentioned to me what I would be baking this weekend.
Nicely done, Sylvia!
Glenn
Ahhh, another fan of this bread here! I can't seem to get my freezer stocked. Do you think men like this loaf as much as the women do?...Mike doesn't seem to be eating or maybe I should say getting as many slices as I have consumed. I like your idea of using both pecans and walnuts. I almost used both, too!
Sylvia
Sylvia--
I do not know if cinnamophilia is linked to the sex chromosomes. Any geneticists here?
Anecdotal evidence in my household indicates that females love cinnamon bread about 35% more than males do. The female will do anything for more; the male will only do almost anything.
As for nuts, I find that the slight bitterness of walnuts detracts from this bread, and I have been making it with only pecans. I do love walnuts with cranberries in sourer breads like the SFBI fruit-nut bread David has blogged about (http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/21289/walnut-raisin-sourdough-bread-sfbi-artisan-ii).
Nice photos!
Glenn
I have it marked for future bake. Thanks for reminding me about this one, I sure have a lot of walnuts in the freezer and I'm pretty picky about what I bake them in...must be the slight bitterness you mentioned.
'lol' cinnamon as an aphrodisiac, does warm the body!
Sylvia
Hi Sylvia, Your bread looks so very good - and the cinnamon/brown sugar topping is a nice extra touch!
I've seen many beautiful examples of this bread here on TFL, and I won't delay any longer - this one's on the bake list for this coming weekend!
:^) from breadsong
The brown sugar adds another boost to the flavor. I think this bread would be lovely with a caramel glaze and walnuts.
You've picked a very tasty loaf for a weekend bake.
The loaves are small, I wish I would have doubled the formula! It's nice to have such a delicious bread that doesn't take much time out of the day..I haven't had as much time to bake or blog 'summer vacation is here and the grandkids, family are keeping me busy' as would like and this bread is very satisfying in many ways.
Sylvia
Hello Sylvia,
We enjoyed the most delicious breakfast this morning - thanks so much for your post, that prompted me to make this bread, after so long!
I took your advice and doubled the batch. And brushing the dough with egg white before sprinkling on the cinnamon sugar worked really well for eliminating any gaps in the baked bread. Good advice on all counts!
Thanks so much, Sylvia! -
from breadsong
One of the many great things about baking (and cooking) is that, regardless of how long you've been doing it, you can still discover new favorites. This bread is one that makes me a bit twitchy when I don't have even half a loaf left in the freezer.
David
This is bread is completely addictive.
I am very happy to have one more loaf tucked away in the freezer (two of the four were gifts, but it was so hard to part with them...)
:^) from breadsong
Nicely swirled, I love the extra flavor it adds.
Guess what I'm making today... 'lol' a double batch! I'll be off with family for while after this Sunday.
It looks like you got the little extra goodies in the center of your lovely swirl..'the eye of the swirl, 'lol'.delicious! Cinnamon, raisin bread has long been a favorite of mine, but I have never made it with the nuts, cinnamon and sugar, mixed right into the dough.
I used all light brown sugars, I might try dark brown today. I think the brown sugars dissolve nicely because of the extra molasses they contain...the darker has even more. It really gives a punch to the flavor.
I need more of the smaller bread pans. I only have 3 of the 41/2X8 size.
Happy Baking,
Sylvia
Hope you enjoy your double-batch. Love all of your good ideas re: caramel, (dark) brown sugar, golden raisins etc!
My husband just loved this bread as did I.
As David says, a joy to discover a new favorite!
:^) from breadsong
Very nice loaves, Sylvia as always. I enjoy to see the swirls that you shaped that are attractive to me.
Best wishes,
Akiko
Those loaves look divine. I'm going to have to bake a couple for my kids this week. Thanks for the inspiration!
Here's hoping your WFO is back in working order,
Don
Sylvia, they turned out awesome! It's been about 2 years since I made that bread, it was very tasty indeed, your post makes me want to bake it again
you did a much better job rolling the dough than I, I remember having trouble with it.
I didn't mean to take so long to reply..it's been busy around the home fires lately. It will probably be a while before I do any baking...@ Don, and the weather is so perfect now for wfo cooking...I've been looking forward to it. @ Sally, the loaves above I didn't use a rolling pin, the dough was very wet and I just gently stretched it into a rectangle and rolled it up. The second double batch I used a rolling pin...both get about the same results.
Happy Baking, Sylvia