Winter in Portland isn’t exactly what I’d call harsh. It barely snows, if at all, and freezing temperatures are usually limited to night and the very early morning. I’ve lived in Maine, and wow, do they know their way around a snow plow there. It snows on the beach (that means at sea level, people) That said, living in an unheated house in December and January is not a exactly a summer’s day, and it’s hard to convince people to come over and watch their breath turn white and foggy in our living room.
So we lure them with food.
Well, not completely. We got Brian over for breakfast the other day, but he’s a good sport to start out with. He even biked to Stumptown on the 8 a.m. icy streets to bring us coffee for the french press. So it’s possible that we could have got him over here for an early breakfast even without such delectable baked goods, but I’m guessing that they helped.
This bread, well, I won’t call it magical, but it’s got something going for it. It managed to turn an early 8 a.m. morning in a cold house to cozy one with dear people and dear (dear!) coffee. We watched weak sun shine play with the ices outside, and laughed and took pictures and lounged on the couch. And perhaps it was the baking the night before, or perhaps it was the increased number of people in the house but, well, we couldn’t even see our breaths.
Cinnamon Raisin Brioche
This recipe is from Leslie Mackie’s Macrina Bakery and Cafe Cookbook. The woman knows how to make a loaf of bread, and she sure as hell knows how to put together a dessert. Although, to be honest, I find the bakery a little disappointing, for its crowdedness and for its baked goods which feel like they should have had a bit more care put into them. Don’t get me wrong, what I’ve had has been delicious, but it often feels as if it should be slightly more so. I think that’s why I love the cookbook so much, since I am one woman cooking one recipe, instead of a bakery supplying for thousands of people. Mackie recommends making this bread in a stand mixer, but I find that it worked well enough by hand. I also added substituted dried, sweetened cranberries for some of the raisins, and found that it worked well. Please note the adorable brioche muffins I made with some spare dough...
For brioche:
1/4 c. warm filtered water
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 c. whole milk
3 1/2 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 c. butter (at room temperature, cut into pieces about 1-inch thick)
3/4 c. raisins and/or cranberries
For topping:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Place warm water and two teaspoons of the sugar into a bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top, whisk until dissolved, let stand for five minutes.
Add remaining sugar, vanilla, eggs, milk, flour, and salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dough is decently combined. Knead by hand for 15-20 minutes, dropping in pieces of butter and incorporating while kneading (Mackie recommends kneading for 10-12 minutes, but since I was doing this by hand instead of with a stand mixer, I thought a longer kneading time would be a good idea). Dough will be elastic, and still somewhat sticky and wet when done. Add in raisins/cranberries/whichever dried fruit you’ve decided is worthwhile.
Get dough into a ball, and deposit into an oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap. Let it proof for around 2 1/2 hours in a warm room (Mackie recommends 70-75 degrees, I just turn the space heater on in my room and let it proof there). It will almost double in size.
Line bottom and sides of a 9 x 5 x 4 inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
For topping, combine the 1/2 c. granulated sugar, 1/2 c. brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
Pull dough onto floured surface, flatten with your hands to release excess air bubbles. Divide dough into three equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 10-inch-long rope. Coat the ropes in melted butter, and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Pinch the ropes together at one end, and braid them until out of dough. Pinch the finish end together. Lift the braid into the loaf pan. Brush with more melted butter, and sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
Re-cover with the plastic wrap, and let proof in the warm room for another hour.
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Remove plastic. Bake the loaf for about 45 minutes. Unsugared parts will be a golden brown, and on my own loaf, the sugars had begun to caramelize and turn a darker brown. Cool the loaf for 20 minutes on a wire rack, but remove the loaf from pan before the sugars cool and harden. If necessary, run a knife around the edge, invert pan, and whew, pour some coffee and enjoy.
Photo by the generous and ever-lovely Emily F. Samstag.
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