a whisk and a spoon

TWD BWD Rewind: Twist Bread

With just one more official post till the end of TWD BWD, I am squeezing in my final Rewind recipe on an unsanctioned Tuesday. Now, after next week, I can say I’ve truly baked the whole book before BWD goes from the spot it’s occupied on my kitchen table for the past five years over to the bookshelf. This Twist Bread is a braided take on cinnamon-raisin bread, and I must say that it looks majestic! I wish I could updo my hair half as nicely as this.

After all the multi-day brioche-based recipes we’ve made lately, this bread was a breeze. It starts with the same dough as The Daily Bread: White Bread Edition, which is ready to go in one day instead of two. I replaced the cinnamon-cocoa-sugar filling that becomes the twirled swirl with some pumpkin spice spread that needed using up. It made the twisting and braiding process a bit goopy, but baked in nicely. I used kitchen tweezers to gently tuck any currants (which I used instead of raisins) that popped out of the dough during the final proof back into the twists, so they were less exposed to heat during baking. A benefit of posting late is getting to take the advice of other members, and I remember someone commenting about burned dried fruit.

I felt sad to cut into the beautiful braided bread, but it looks great inside, with ribbons of pumpkin spice spread and currants here and there. It’s soft and sweet and stays perfectly lovely for a few days on the counter. I did wrap half the loaf for the freezer, so I can experiment with French toast as Dorie suggests.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it. It’s worth it. Don’t forget to check out the TWD website and join Tuesdays with Dorie!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Cheese-Swirl Babka Buns

Brioche month continues, and this time Dorie’s buttery dough takes a savory spin with Cheese-Swirl Babka Buns. Think cinnamon roll, but with a spiral of cheese! Actually cheeses (plural)- a smoosh up of ricotta, cream cheese, Parmesan and cheddar. Minced shallot and scallion greens break the creaminess a bit. More cheddar appears in the streusel topping, which tastes like Cheez-Its.

As usual, this brioche is a two-day affair, the first day dedicated to making and chilling the dough, and the second day to spiraling, proofing and baking the buns. I made just four buns, and they proofed and baked nicely in my 7″-square pan (which I know is a weird size, but I cut so many recipes in half that I’ve found it comes in handy quite often). The cheese spirals got a bit lost in the centers of the buns, where the cheese seemed to absorb into the bread. That center bit is usually the prize of a sticky bun or cinnamon roll, but no matter. These are rich and savory and especially yummy warm.

This is our second-to-last recipe from the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, which we have baking our way through since 2021. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!

Tuesdays with Dorie BWD: Brioche

I feel like we’ve made Dorie’s brioche dough a zillion times now. Just from the pages of Baking with Dorie, we’ve used it for buns (both sticky and sandwich) and we’ve used it for babka (both chocolate and cheese). What we haven’t used it for, until now, is just a plain loaf of Brioche. Is it fair to call a loaf of brioche plain, though? It’s buttery and sweet and just “plain” irresistible straight out of the oven.

This brioche is a two-day affair, the first day dedicated to making and chilling the dough, and the second day to shaping, proofing and baking the loaf. I shaped mine as a pull-apart, as per Dorie’s “Playing Around” suggestion. Tearing off a warm brioche bubble and slathering it with salty butter and jam is one of life’s true treats.

If you don’t have the book Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple by Dorie Greenspan, get it and join us as we bake through it every second and fourth Tuesdays. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll and all the other participation deets over on Tuesdays with Dorie!