fresh sweet bread for breakfast
Hi
Haven't posted in a while but I'm back with another question (or maybe it's the same question, in which case my apologies) for all of you who so generously share your knowledge.
I'd like to have fresh sweet bread (pulla right now but sometimes cinnamon buns etc) for breakfast. The recipe I use takes about 4 hours in total, which puts us close to lunchtime if I start between 7-8 (don't want to start earlier and wake the kids, who sleep right above the kitchen).
I don't work with sweet doughs very much and I never leave myself time to experiment, so looking for advice from those that do. What's the best way to prep everything so I can cut that time down to maybe 2 hrs in the morning? Can I mix the dough the evening and then retard it somehow? At what stage? What would the morning look like in terms of shaping, proofing, etc? There's no room in my fridge but I have a cold (possibly freezing tonight) uninsulated mudroom I could use, if I can keep the dog out.
Thanks in advance!
-alli
Use the search box on this site. That is a recipe from Floyd (our wonderful host). I mix it at about 8-9PM, put it into a large,oiled,covered container and put it in the refrigerator overnight. Mine has usually risen completely by am so I can shape,proof and bake. Have any ingredients ready togo for whatever you are making and it should go quickly. I have made bread, cinnamon bread, cinnamon rolls, filled buns (sweet and savory), sticky buns, coffee cake and just about anything else you can think of with this dough. I scale them to 2-3 oz each and usually get 24 per recipe.
Definitely my "go-to" recipe.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/lazymansbrioche
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/lazymansbrioche
That looks great, thank you! Can't wait to try it.
Is the dough easy to work/shape, or do you need to let it warm up first? I've just read a few recipes (for cinnamon buns mainly) that proof and shape, then retard the dough overnight. Wondering which method might be best for a braided loaf.....
Thank you!
Having butter in it, the dough can stiffen up a bit when cold. You can either shape while cold and then proof before baking or let the dough sit come closer to room temp and then shape. The cold dough does take a bit longer to proof as it has to warm up a bit.
The most economical time-wise method would be to turn your oven on to preheat, shape the cold dough and cover with a towel. Place on/near the warm oven to proof and bake when ready. Enjoy!
You can shape the dough and final proof it in the fridge too. Just bake it cold right out of the fridge. You can even put it in a cold oven and just turn it on to baking temperature. Up at 7 and bread by 8 is no problem.
can I still "bake it cold"?
That's great, thank you both!
I wouldn't have thought cold dough in a cold oven would be a possibility, but now I want to test it all ways and see which way works best for me.
Final (maybe) question - if there's no room in the fridge, will a cold room work? It would be colder than 40 but hopefully above freezing. Alternately we have a cool room, I"d need to check the temp but it's above 40, below 60.
Too many variables to test......
Thank you!