Jane’s Sweets & Baking Journal -- janessweets.blogspot.com -- October 2012

*The recipe below has been adapted from the King Arthur Flour recipe for “Cinnamon-Apple Twist Bread,” found at this link: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cinnamon-apple-twist-bread-recipe

Apple-Cinnamon Sweet Bread with Dried Cherries

Yield: Two large loaves (approximately 16 slices per loaf)

Ingredients for the dough:

3 and 1/4 cups pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour (I used pastry flour.)

1/4 cup dried potato flakes (mashed-potato flakes) or potato flour (I used Hungry Jack brand dehydrated potato flakes.)

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt (I used coarse kosher salt.)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup milk (I used 2 percent, and warmed it to room temperature.)

Ingredients for the filling:

1/2 granulated sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (Or, KAF suggests you use Instant ClearJel; I used flour.)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup apple that's been peeled and grated (I needed four small Gala apples.)

3 tablespoons dried cherries, chopped small

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Ingredients for the glaze:

2 cups confectioners' sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 to 4 tablespoons cream, half and half, or milk (I used half and half.)

To make the dough:

In a large bowl, whisk together thoroughly all of the dry ingredients, making sure there are no clumps.

Add in the butter, vanilla, lightly beaten egg, and milk. Stir with a spoon or fork until the dough looks quite shaggy. Let the dough sit in the bowl, uncovered, for half an hour (per KAF, this will give the flour time to absorb liquid, thus making the dough easier to knead).

Onto a well-floured surface, dump out your dough. Flour your hands liberally, and knead the dough for about ten minutes. If your dough feels too dry, sprinkle it with drops of water; too wet, use more flour on your kneading surface.

The dough, once ready, should be springy, smooth, and elastic. Place it into a large, clean bowl, that's been oiled or sprayed with vegetable spray (I used the latter). Cover the top of the bowl with a sheet of plastic wrap that's also been sprayed, and then cover that lightly with a thin dish towel.

Let the dough rise in a draft-free spot until just about doubled; this may take 90 minutes to 2 hours. (The longer the rise, the better the final flavor of the baked bread, so longer is often better.)

While the dough is rising, prepare the filling.

To make the filling:

In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Put the grated apple and chopped dried cherries into a medium bowl and toss them with the lemon juice; sprinkle the dry ingredients over the fruit and stir thoroughly. Set aside.

To roll out, fill, and shape the dough:

Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Deflate the dough gently by folding it over a couple of times. Cut it in half. Dust your surface again, lightly, with flour. Working on one piece at a time, roll the first half of dough into a rectangle that's 10" by 12". Spoon half of the filling onto the rectangle and spread it all around, leaving an uncovered border of about 1/2" around the edge.

Beginning with the longest side of the dough, roll the dough up into a log. Seal the long seam tightly by pinching it closed with your fingertips, and seal the ends as well. Now do the exact same thing with the second piece of dough.

Use a sharp pastry wheel (aka pizza cutter/wheel) or chef's knife to slit each log from top to bottom, length-wise.

Now, do this for each split log (so you end up with two loaves): Place two lengths of dough filled-side up, side by side on a piece of parchment set over a baking sheet.  Keeping the filling side up, twist the two lengths together, working from the center out to each end. Pinch the dough at the ends together so they won't come apart while baking.

Cover the two loaves loosely with sprayed plastic wrap. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let the loaves rise again until almost doubled, up to 2 hours.

Bake the loaves in the middle of your oven for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. They should be lightly golden on top and darker golden on the bottom. Peek at them after about 20 minutes, and cover the loaves lightly with foil if they appear to be browning too fast.

Let the baked loaves cool on a rack and glaze them when they're no longer warm.

To make the glaze:

In a medium bowl, stir together the confectioners' sugar, vanilla extract, and milk/cream until the glaze is the consistency you prefer. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled loaves. Once the glaze has dried, you may wrap the loaves now if you are going to freeze them.