Cinnamon Bread

My son did not get to enjoy the things I baked this month as he wasn't home until Christmas' weekend. He loves cinnamon flavored bakes and I tried this one, especially for him. At first I thought of baking a cinnamon raisin bread or cinnamon buns which my daughter also loves but didn't have the patience to wait for the yeast batters to rise. Instead I tried a quick bread version which was done in less than the time needed for a yeast based batter to rise. I am calling this a cinnamon bread though it was supposed to be a cinnamon swirl bread. The original recipe was meant for a standard loaf pan and there were two prominent cinnamon swirls in each slice. In the recipe, 1/3rd of the bread batter is poured into the pan and a layer of cinnamon sugar is sprinkled evenly. Again the layers are repeated twice. The final bread looks gorgeous when cut open, showing those lovely cinnamon swirls. Take a look at the bread.

I scaled down the recipe not realizing that I may not be able to get those swirls, the reason I tried this recipe in the first place. I had quartered the recipe to fit a mini loaf pan and it was hard to sprinkle two layers of ground cinnamon sugar between the batter layers. After the first layers of batter and cinnamon, I poured the second layer of batter and could not spread the thick batter. I had to pour all the batter instead and sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over it. The cinnamon layer in between was also not enough, I realized when I took a look at the images and tasted it. Don't skimp on the cinnamon for it's pronounced flavor in the bread; lesson learnt. My son wondered why I baked only a mini loaf of this lovely bread. This quick bread is delicious with a perfect crumb. I will bake a big loaf soon and update the pictures.

Ingredients:
1 flax egg
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
1 and 1/3 cups sugar (divided)
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup buttermilk 

Directions:
* Combine 1 tbsp. flax-meal and 3 tbsp. warm water in a bowl and keep it aside for about five minutes. In case buttermilk is not available, add 1 tbsp. cider vinegar to a cup of room temperature milk and keep it aside. 
* Preheat oven to 350 deg F / 180 deg C. Grease a 8 by 4 inch loaf pan. Combine cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl.
* Beat butter, 1 cup sugar and flax egg until blended. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture alternately with buttermilk.
* Pour a third of the batter into the greased pan. Sprinkle 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar evenly over the batter. Repeat layers twice. 
* Place the pan in the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 45 - 50 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 to 15 minutes before removing from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Slice and serve when it cools down.

This cinnamon bread is going to be my last post of this year and also my last entry for the Bakeathon event.

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Fun Friday ~ Eggless Baked Doughnuts With Chocolate Glazing

The first recipe that kept popping up when I was looking for eggless donuts was Radhika's and I had noted it down to try for this marathon. These yeast based, baked doughnuts are not a substitute for the ones you get from the famous American franchise stores but were like soft, spongy rolls. I noticed that most yeast based ones in the web world looked pretty much the same. I had to use extra milk than the recipe mentioned. Otherwise it is a foolproof one as the original recipe promises to be. Don't skip the glaze as these doughnuts are pretty much bland without the frosting. I glazed them with a chocolate frosting as my daughter loves it but any other glaze can be used. 

Servings: 10 - 12
Ingredients for the doughnuts:
1/2 cup milk (I had to use 1/4 cup extra.)
1.5 tsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups all purpose flour (1&1/2 + 1/2)
1 tbsp. corn starch
50 gm / Scant 1/4 cup butter
2 tsp. vanilla essence 
Ingredients for the chocolate glaze:
6 tbsp. chocolate chips / chopped chocolate (I used semi sweet chocolate chips)
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. powdered sugar

Method:
* Pulse the 1/4 cup sugar finely and keep it aside.
* Warm 1/2 cup milk in a microwave for about 30 - 40 seconds. Stir in the yeast, salt and about 1 tbsp. powdered sugar (from above step) in the milk. Keep it aside for few minutes until the mixture turns frothy.
* In the mean while cut the hard, cold butter into cubes.
* To a mixing bowl add 1 & 1/2 cups flour, corn starch, yeast mixture, remaining powdered sugar and vanilla and mix. (At this point the original recipe mentioned that the dough would be sticky but mine was pliable.)
* Next add the cubed butter into the bowl and work it into the dough until all the butter is merged with the flour. (You don't need any mixer to prepare this dough as it is quite easy to incorporate the butter into the mixture.)
 
* Now add the remaining 1/2 cup flour and knead into a soft, pliable dough for about 4 -5 minutes. (At this point, my dough became dry because of the addition of flour and I had to add about 1/4 warm milk to work with it.)
* Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and keep it in a warm place until it doubles in volume.

* Deflate the dough when it rises. Flour your work surface and roll the dough into 1/2 inch thickness. Use a doughnut cutter or 2 round shaped cookie cutters (3 inched and 1 inched ones) to cut out doughnut shapes. Collect the scraps and repeat the process until all the dough is used up. Basically you cut 3 inch diameter rounds with 1 inched diameter holes.

* Transfer the shaped doughnuts onto a greased baking sheet. Cover them with a towel and allow them to rest for about 20 minutes.

* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F during the last 10 minutes of resting.

* Bake the doughnuts for about 10 minutes or until it turns golden brown. 

* Remove the doughnuts from the oven and brush them with melted butter. Let them cool for five minutes.

* Place the glazing ingredients in a shallow/wide microwave safe bowl and microwave until it melts, stopping at 30 seconds intervals. Let the glazing turn warm.

* Hold the doughnut upside down and dip it in the glaze. Lift and   quickly turn it so the glazed side is up. Decorate with rainbow or chocolate sprinkles if desired.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 51.

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