Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Ever since I've finally had success with baking white bread using The King Arthur Flour Baking Companion recipe for White Bread 101, I've decided to continue my baking training further with more of their recipes. This here is a soft, rich, and absolutely delectable sweet bread. I baked it yesterday (I absolutely had to bake something being that the apartment was under 50 degrees) and pray tell the wonderful smell that filled the apartment foreshadowed the imminent bread eating that would make the bread less than half a loaf today. I'm quite pleased with myself, more so because the bread did not come out dense as it had raised (rised?) quite nicely in a warmed oven. Which I might add, has been my saving grace ever since my bread starting coming out well.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

Dough 3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1/4 cup potato flour 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk 1 1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 3 tbsp sugar 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast 4 tbsp butter 1 cup water, warmed to about 110 degrees F

Filling 1/4 sugar 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup raisins or currants (optional) 2 tsp unbleached all-purpose flour Egg wash, made from 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water Topping 2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

Make Dough:
In an standing electric mixer, combine all the dry ingredients and give it a whirl to mix it up. Melt your butter in the microwave or on the stove and let cool a bit. Then dissolve your yeast in with the warm water. While mixing on low, pour the butter into the flour mixture and then the yeast water. Go on low until dough comes together (if its too crumbly add a little warm water at a time) and then switch to medium (about 3 on a KitchenAid mixer) for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and satiny. Knead by hand for about a minute and then transfer the dough into a oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise for about an hour to an hour and a half.

Make filling:
Mix filling ingredients together in a small bowl (except for the egg wash). Set aside.

Assemble:
Flatten dough into a long rectangle; about 16 x 8 inches. Brush the dough with some of the egg wash (reserve some for the topping) and press the filling onto the dough. Then starting with the short end, roll dough into a log making sure to pinch the ends so the filling will not leak out. Place dough in a lightly greased loaf pan (I used a 9 x 5) and let rise for about an hour or until the dough has risen about an inch over the rim of the pan.

Make topping:
Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl. Brush top of bread with reserved egg wash and gently press the topping on.

Bake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake the bread for about 45 minutes or until inner bread has reached about 190 degrees. If the bread gets a little too brown during baking, tent lightly with foil. Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan for about 5 minutes. Then gently remove from the pan onto a cooling rack. Some of the topping will fall off but don't worry too much about it. Let the bread sit for about 10 to 15 minutes before slicing and devouring.