Cocoa Cranberry Swirl Bread - CIC

Things have been quiet around here as I get ready for some major life changes. I've been without my kitchen for a while so even though I desperately needed to make something, anything for my sanity, I couldn't. I also really missed participating in the various groups. I had access to a kitchen yesterday so I quickly kneaded this bread for the last Crazy Ingredients Challenge of 2015.

 It's weird to think that 2015 is over. Anyway, our challenge ingredients this month were cocoa and cranberries. It's not a difficult combination - nothing crazy about it at all. But with all the busyness of the season, I guess it's good to have one less thing to spend a lot of time worrying about. 

I adapted this bread from a Cocoa-Nut Swirl Bread in a cookbook called Chocolate Fantasies. Hope the holidays are treating you well. Be sure to visit the other blogs to see what they made.

 Cocoa Cranberry Swirl Bread
 Dough
 3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups flour
 2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg

 Filling
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 tablespoon milk
3/4 dried cranberries, chopped

 Combine all the dough ingredients and knead until you have a soft dough. You may need to add more flour. You could also use a little less milk. Keep kneading until it's smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until doubled.

 After the dough has doubled, turn out onto a floured surface. Roll out to a 15" x 7" rectangle. Brush it lightly with water. Combine the sugar and cocoa then add just enough milk to form a smooth paste. Spread evenly over the rectangle then sprinkle with chopped cranberries.

 Starting at the short end, roll up the dough, seal and fold the ends under. Place in a greased 9" x 5" loaf pan. Cover and let rise until doubled.

 Bake at 375℉ for 35 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Loaf may be glazed if desired.

An InLinkz Link-up

Edible Bread Basket- #BreadBakers

I just woke up from a dream about Stacy from Food Lust People Love/ . I can't remember the details of the dream but I think we were travelling. The details really don't matter though; it was just my subconscious’s way of trying to wake me up to write this post. I've been really excited about baking and sharing this basket for a while but I was completely blank about what to write here. Had I remembered the details of the dream, I'd certainly have some material.

Let's ramble about the basket then. It took a while! Clear some time in your schedule if you're a slowpoke like me. Part of that is because I was figuring out things as I went along. I switched from weaving the dough on the form to weaving it on a baking mat. I found that I preferred to work with chilled strips and I kept worrying about my dough proofing before I was finished so there were several trips to the refrigerator. Then I got really hungry. It actually took me half hour to properly roll ropes that would be twisted and form the top edges of the basket. The ropes just would not corporate! And when I got it done and was ready to bake it, I realised that I didn't mind the edges of the basket. Had I initially planned to leave them bare, I would have trimmed it better. But I was happy enough. That twisted rope then became one of the pieces you see in the basket with the rolls. I ate it first.

You can see that my strips were not all the same width and my basket weaving needs some work. But I am still really happy about how it turned out. I can't wait to do this again and serve it to friends. I actually have some ideas for fun variations. Thanks, Pavani for choosing the theme this month. This basket had been on my mind all year and I am glad that I finally got to do it. Be sure to scroll down to see all the other breads this month.

Edible Bread Basket

Ingredients
500 grams all purpose flour
260 grams water
 25 grams oil
 22 grams sugar
6 grams salt
1 teaspoon instant yeast

 Egg, for egg wash

Directions

Combine all the dough ingredients and knead until gluten is fully developed. If dough seems dry, add a teaspoon of water at a time. It's a firm dough and should not be sticky.Place in an oiled container, cover and let rise until doubled. Dough can be bulk fermented in the refrigerator.

 Cover an inverted 9” x 5” loaf tin with foil. Thoroughly grease the foil.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Gently deflate the risen dough. Working with small pieces at a time, roll out a ¼ inch thick rectangle that is long enough to drape over the inverted loaf tin. Cut out ¼ inch strips. Start weaving these strips on a flat surface. Keep dough that you're not currently using in the refrigerator.Keep weaving until you have a mat that is large enough to drape over your inverted loaf tin.  Depending on the height of your loaf tin, this mat may be about 15 inches by 11 inches.

Drape over the tin and trim the edges.Place on a baking sheet and brush with an egg beaten with a tablespoon of water.

Bake for 30 minutes then check to see how well it's browning. If it's not yet golden, return to oven until golden. Remove from oven and carefully invert and remove the loaf tin and the foil. Return the basket now right side up to the oven for a few minutes so that the inside can be properly cooked. It won't get much colour but you're looking for a temperature around 190 F. I kept mine in for about 10 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack then fill with your favourite rolls and breadsticks.

Notes

• It took me more than an hour to do all the cutting of the strips and weaving. But I'm really slow on the kitchen so it may go faster for you. 
• You can wait until you have about thirty minutes of work left to preheat the oven.
• You could weave the strips on the mold. I started out that way but working on the sides was really difficult (strips kept slipping) for me so I switched to doing it all on a flat surface. It's occurring to me now that longer strips that went all the way around the sides may have made it less difficult. 
• Next time I'd use wider strips so that the weaving went more quickly.I chose to leave the edges unfinished but you can make a twisted or plaited rope for the top of the basket. 

 Let's take a look at what my fellow bakers have baked for this month’s Family Feast Breads event:

• Butterflake Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cardamom Fig Braid from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Challah Bread from la cocina de Aisha
• Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Buns from Food Lust People Love
• Chicken in a Blanket from Sneha's Recipe
• Classic Dinner Rolls from A Baker's House
• Cloverleaf Rolls from En La Cocina de Caro
• Cranberry & Orange Spice Bread from Baking in Pyjamas
• Eggless Coconut Pineapple Quick Bread from Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Edible Bread Basket from Passion Kneaded
• Mallorcan Ensaimadas from Ruchik Randhap
• Meyer Lemon & Cranberry Einkorn Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Pear Pie Cinnamon Rolls from From Gate to Plate
• Poppy Seed Coiled Challah from Bakingyummies
• Poppyseed Roll from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Povitica from Spiceroots
• Pumpkin Dinner Rolls from Cook's Hideout
• Pumpkin Yeast Bread from Hostess At Heart
• Rose-shaped Buns from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Savory Cheddar Honey Butter Rolls from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Simple High Fibre Baguettes from What Smells So Good?
• Smoked Cheddar Caramelized Onion Dinner Rolls from Noshing With The Nolands
• Sweet Dumpling Squash Drop Biscuits from Magnolia Days
• Thanksgiving Wreath Braided Bread Centerpiece from Pastry Chef Online

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

Whole Wheat Apple Rum and Raisin Muffins - #MuffinMonday

You should already know that I am not sold on having muffins for breakfast. It’s a cultural thing; we emphasize savory breakfasts. In fact, our favourites are very salty. Serving muffins and pastries would garner several frowns. I know my mother does when she’s offered Danishes for breakfast. Now with the addition of rum to these muffins, I think I am basically screaming, “These are not for breakfast!” But if you eat them at 10 am like I did, I am certainly in no position to judge. If you’re worried about being judged, keep the presence of rum a secret and simply smile widely while you enjoy these muffins in that really boring morning meeting.  I have an acquaintance who would tip a bit of white rum into her morning coffee.

I think these may be my favourite muffins to date. It might be the booze talking since I am obsessed with alcohol in baked goods. Though these are whole wheat, they are extremely moist and flavorful (that’s definitely the rum and oh yeah, the cinnamon).  If rum is not your thing, soak the raisins in some water. Hot water will hydrate them pretty quickly and you’ll be ready to bake without an overnight wait added in.

Be sure to scroll down to see all the other delicious muffins this month!


Whole Wheat Apple Rum and Raisin Muffins
Yield: A baker’s dozen

Ingredients

75 grams raisins
Rum to just cover raisins
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons oats
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon melted butter
226g (2 cups) whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
148g (~¾ cup) sugar
¾ cup milk
100g (~½ cup) oil
1 egg
200 grams (1) apple, roughly chopped

Directions

Soak the raisins overnight in enough rum to just cover to them.
Preheat oven to 425 F. Line a muffin pan with liners or grease the wells.
Mix together the ¼ cup sugar, flour, oats, and cinnamon. Drizzle over the melted butter and toss together until all the dry ingredients are moist. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate container mix together sugar, milk, oil, and the egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Stir it no more than ten times. Fold in the chopped apple and drained raisins.
Distribute the batter among the muffin wells filling all the way to the top. Sprinkle each muffin with the oat mixture that you side aside earlier.
Bake for 5 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 375F. Bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.
Cool for a few minutes in the muffin pan then remove and cool on a wire rack.

Notes
Why waste that lovely rum? Reduce the milk and add the rum that you soaked the raisins in to the batter. Or use in your next microwave mug cake.

• Asian Pear & Cardamom Cream Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Raspberry Jam Crumb Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Roasted Onion Brie Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Triple Dark Chocolate Muffins from The Spiced Life
• Whole Wheat Apple Rum and Raisin Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.
Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.