Plump raisins, cinnamon, pecans and walnuts make up this very satisfying and tasty bread. Plan to make it the day before though as it needs time to ferment overnight.
Chef's notes
This recipe is adapted from Del Vecchio's Bakery on Fenwick Island, Delaware.
Steps
1
Activating the Yeast
Ingredients
2 cups (475 g) warm water, no higher than 110°F (43°C)
14 g instant yeast
1/4 cup (60 g) vegetable oil
2 1/2 tbsp (33 g) sugar
1 tbsp (16 g) salt
5 cups (725 g) bread flour
Place the water into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over top. Let sit for a minute or so without stirring. Once the yeast has dissolved, stir to combine. Let sit for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, gather the oil, sugar, salt and flour.
Note: 14 g instant yeast = 18 g active dry yeast = 42 g fresh yeast
2
Preparing the Rest of the Mise en Place
Ingredients
1/4 cup (packed) (45 g) brown sugar
2 tsp (5 g) ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup (60 g) chopped pecans
1/2 cup (60 g) chopped walnuts
2 cups (320 g) raisins
To prepare the rest of your mise en place, roughly chop the nuts and gather the raisins, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set everything aside.
3
Mixing the Dough
To mix the dough, add the oil and sugar to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Next, add approximately half of the flour. Stir to incorporate. Add the salt and stir again.
At this point, add just enough flour to form a clay mass (or shaggy mass) about 5 cups worth in total. Stir to combine. Once the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, transfer it to a lightly-floured counter top.
4
Kneading the Dough
Knead the dough until it is soft and smooth, about 8 minutes or so. The dough will be sticky; it is easier to handle with a bench scraper or bowl scraper. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
Gently shape the dough into a round. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
5
Incorporating the Cinnamon, Sugar & Nuts
Flatten the dough slightly and add the cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts. Fold and continue to knead just until everything is incorporated. Lightly dust the counter and dough as needed, but only if the dough is overly sticky.
You may find it easier to add the nuts in a couple of stages, as they tend to fall out as you knead. Don't worry, just keep kneading until they are somewhat evenly distributed.
Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
6
Incorporating the Raisins
Flatten the dough slightly and knead the raisins into the dough, working in batches if needed. Some of the raisins and nuts may fall out but, again, don't worry. Just press them in at the end. Form into a round.
7
Fermenting the Dough Overnight
Brush a large bowl lightly with oil. Make sure the bowl is large enough for the dough to at least double in volume as it ferments. Place the dough into the bowl; turn to coat with the oil.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment in the refrigerator overnight.
8
Shaping the Dough
Line a large baking sheet with parchment.
Gently remove the dough from the bowl and flatten slightly with your hands. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. Form each piece into about a 6-inch round. Place the dough balls onto the baking sheet making sure there is enough room between them for the dough to rise again.
9
Proofing the Dough
Cover the dough and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
10
Baking the Bread
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the bread for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown. When done, the bottom of the bread should sound hollow when tapped. The internal temperature should reach 180°F (82°C).
Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing.
The First 3 Are On Us
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This bread was outstanding. I made one 6" round loaf and one 9"x5" loaf. I gave the round one to family and the first 3 instant comments were Amazing, Awesome and How will we ever keep ourselves from eating the whole loaf at once!
I left out the cinnamon because of personal preference and used chopped hazelnuts as I had them on hand. I toasted them whole (another personal preference) before chopping very roughly.
Also, I added the 1 1/2 tsp portion of required sugar to the yeast to help activate it more vigorously. (Just a personal thing and not necessary). I must confess to using my stand mixer and mixed on low speed with paddle to incorporate the ingredients and then the dough hook on speed 2 for about 6 minutes. Then added nuts for 1 minute and raisins for another minute. I did knead a bit more by hand and tried to cover the raisins and nuts as much as possible to prevent them burning. They sure kept wanting to pop out:)
The overnight ferment really adds to the flavor. I proofed the loaves in a warm room and found that the loaf pan required 30 minutes more proofing time than the round loaf. A little trick I use when proofing 2 loaves on top of one pan is to cut the parchment paper a few inches wider than the pan and fold in half. Than lay out the parchment and raise the middle fold up a few inches to make an upside down "V". Flour the sides of the loaves to prevent sticking. When you are ready to bake, pull the parchment paper on each side and it will give room for the loaves to spread in the oven without touching each other.
Everyone rated this bread a 5 star winner.
I meant to mention that it is important to fluff up the flour before measuring as it can get compacted in the bag. Results can vary greatly if you try to pack it in. I used a bit more than 5 cups when mixing and some more added at the end with the final hand kneading. I have already had a call to start making more of this bread as they finished the first loaf already. Happy baking:)
will there be a time which ingredients will be weighed instead of measured? especially when it comes to baking i like to weigh my ingredients since different brands of flour weigh differently.
thanks
I agree, weighing ingredients definitely produces consistent results. That being said, many of the recipes on Rouxbe force you to apply the techniques learned in the Cooking School; one of which is being able to put together a loaf of bread and produce the correct texture based on the feeling of the dough.
As you come across recipes (and there are many out there) that indicate volume measurements, rather than measurements by weight, you will still be able to produce great results because you understand the technique behind bringing the ingredients together. This is why many grandma's out there never weigh...they just use a "little bit of this and a little bit of that" and magically wind up with delicious baked goods because they know what to feel and look for. Even when you measure ingredients, pay close attention to how the dough feels...so if you are ever stranded in a forest with some flour, salt, yeast and a wood burning oven (but not a scale), you'll be able to put together a good loaf of bread without a recipe :) Cheers!
Here is a drill-down on Yeast Substitutions. You may also find it helpful to watch the lesson on How to Make Bread Basics, as we go into quite a bit of detail on yeast in that lesson. Cheers!
Made this bread on Friday evening, left it in the refrigerator until Saturday morning when I finished and baked it. It was delicious and very quickly devoured, even by the non-raisin lovers.
Not sure exactly what you mean, but I think you might be wondering about a video for this recipe? I just wanted to mention that not all recipes on Rouxbe are videos — some are just text recipes, such as this one here. If it is a video recipe, there will be a play button (as well as other links on the page) on the main big picture. Hope that helps. Cheers!
Can you explain what the fermenting timeline is, how many hours approximately? I prefer to make the dough in the morning or afternoon, let it ferment on the counter, shape it and then refrigerate over night and bake it first thing in the morning. Is that an option? I often make long fermentation breads, so this timeline has worked for me with other breads, however, those were not ‘enriched’ doughs. For the suggested timeline in the recipe, I don’t like that it would have to sit out for 2 hours in the morning after shaping, which makes it harder to eat it fresh if you eat breakfast early.
Wendy, The quick answer is that best results are usually experienced when following the fermentation sequence in this recipe, because it’s an enriched dough. There are a few concerns if making this bread as you suggest. First, if the dough is shaped then placed in the refrigerator, the fat and sugar will inhibit the final fermentation. And, when the dough is removed from the refrigerator and placed in the oven, the cool internal temperature of the dough will result in uneven oven spring and thus uneven texture throughout the loaf. Of course, you might try this recipe your way to see how you like it.
Carleen, for the rye flour, start by introducing 25% and see how you like the results. Then, make additional changes as desired. For metric conversions, there are many calculators online. Please search 'metric conversion calculator' and choose one that is comfortable for you.
I just made this bread with Spelt flour and I can't wait to take it out of the oven and taste it!!! I used to make bread in my younger years and now going back to enjoying the playing with dough and shaping the loaves, it brought back memories!
Hi Tammy, thank you for your feedback and question. I tested the recipe, and the original quantity of yeast was more than necessary. I reduced it to about 2% (instant yeast), which is appropriate for this bread that contains fat, sugar, and cinnamon, all of which compete with the yeast. Happy baking! ~Eric
