Cinnamon Rose Bread

Today, I had to start with a picture. Normally I save the pretty “final product” pictures for the end, but this was just too gorgeous to wait. This recipe comes from one of my favorite blogs, Chew Town . I’ve wanted to make it for a while, but never really had an excuse to, now it’s Sunday, and that is excuse enough!

Peter says it tastes like a giant cinnamon roll without the frosting. I kind of agree, but I think it is a little more dense than that, and the flavor is a bit deeper because you use brown sugar instead of white. The layers pull apart beautifully, and it will be my coffee’s best friend tomorrow morning. I imagine you could use other fillings as well; chocolate shavings for a chocolate babka version, or even a savory version with herbs, cheese, sun dried tomatos etc… See what you can come up with! Although I totally advise trying the cinnamon version first, so delicious.

Cinnamon Rose Bread

dough
300 ml warm milk
One packet (2 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
1 Tbsp sugar
2-3 cups bread flour (I used about 2 3/4, it depends on many factors like the kind of milk you use and the size of your egg)
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten

filling
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped mixed nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)
2 tsp cinnamon

Combine milk, yeast and sugar and allow it to sit until frothy. Slowly add in about a cup of the flour, the salt and the egg. Incorporate everything and then continue adding flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of your mixing bowl. If you are kneading by hand, you are looking for a soft dough that is still fairly sticky. Plop your dough ball in a greased bowl and let it sit for 45 minutes to an hour.

While it’s rising combine all your filling ingredients. Tada!

Now roll out your dough into the best rectangle you can, it should be about a 1/2 cm thick. Don’t forget to put flour underneath your dough!

Spread on your filling.

Starting at one of the long ends, roll it up into a log and pinch the ends to close.

Using a knife or a bench scraper cut the log down the middle the long way and face the two cut sides up.

Pinch the ends together and twist the halves together, making sure the cut sides are always facing up, pinch together the ends.

Grease a 9 or 10 inch spring form pan (a cake pan would work as well) and wrap the twist around itself inside the pan, tucking the end underneath. Cover and allow to rise 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 at this time.

…

Uncover and pop it in the oven for 40-50 minutes – until golden brown. Allow it to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes. Slice into pieces and chow down.

“Oooh swirly cinnamony goodness…”