If you enjoy the sweetness of cinnamon swirl toast, here’s a new summer twist for breakfast…Strawberry Swirl Brioche Bread. It’s delicious cut thick, toasted and topped with flavored whipped cream cheese. Plus, it’s about as easy as making bread gets when you have the electric mixer do the kneading for you. You’ll be surprised how EASY it is!
Mix it with the aid of your electric mixer. No need to hand knead the bread. Let your stand mixer do the work for you. Let the dough rise, spread the bread with your favorite strawberry preserves…or sub blueberry preserves or another delicious jam. Roll the dough and tuck it. Then bake and enjoy a warm slice with flavored spreadable cream cheese or a slab of butter. It is heaven!
Prep your 9”x 5” baking loaf pan:
Lavishly butter the pan with soft butter on all four sides and the bottom.
Preheat your oven a few minutes before you are ready to bake…375F degrees.
Gather up the Ingredients:
3 T Butter, melted
¾ C Water, lukewarm
¼ C Milk
1 Egg
3 ¼ C Flour
½ t Salt
3 T Sugar
2 t Yeast, active dry
¾ C Strawberry jam for filling
Cinnamon sprinkles, optional
1 egg and 1 T milk for egg wash
Mix and bake:
-In the bowl of your electric stand mixer mix together the melted butter, lukewarm water, milk and egg. You can do this with a hand whisk or the whisk that comes with the mixer.
-Change the whisk attachment to the dough hook. Sift in the flour, salt, sugar and active dry yeast and mix to combine.
-Using the dough hook, knead the dough for on low medium for 3-4 minutes. The dough will come away from the sides, but could still be a little sticky. If sticky, I add a tablespoon at a time so it’s not sticky.
-Form into a ball and cover with plastic wrap in the bowl.
-Let rise for 1 ½ - 2 hours until the dough has doubled in size. Make sure it’s not in a cool draft. But, there’s no need to place it in a warm spot.
-Punch the dough down and separate from the sides with your dough scraper or spatula.
-Pour it out onto a clean and lightly floured surface.
-Divide the dough in two and form into 6” rounds, seam side down.
-Let sit, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
-Transfer one dough ball to a lightly floured surface.
-With a rolling pin, create an 8”x 11” oval or rectangle.
-Spread half the jam over the dough rectangle, leaving about an inch around all sides void of jam. Don’t spread it too thick or it can leak out the ends of the roll. Sprinkle just a little cinnamon if you like.
-Roll up tightly from one of the shorter sides to create a long rolled section of dough. Set aside.
-Repeat with the other half of the dough to create a second long rolled section of dough.
-On a clean and lightly floured surface, place one long roll down stretching away from you like the number 1.
-Place the other long roll crosswise from left to right over the first long roll…so it looks like a plus sign.
-Next, look at the two long crisscrossed rolls of dough as though their ends are pointing at numbers on a clock, one end at 12 o’clock, one end at 3 o’clock, one at 6 o’clock and one at 9 o’clock.
-Twist the two ends pointing at 12 o’clock and 3 o’clock together. Do not stretch them as you twist them. Tuck the ends under.
-Twist the two ends pointing at 6 o’clock and 9 o’clock together. Do not stretch them as you twist them. Tuck the ends under.
-Now you have a twisted loaf of bread that will bake with swirls of strawberry jam inside.
-Gently lift the unbaked loaf of bread and lay in the buttered bread baking pan.
-Whisk together the egg and milk for the egg wash. With a pastry brush, spread the egg wash over the top of the unbaked bread loaf.
-Let the loaf rise for 20 minutes at room temperature so it rises above the rim a little. Do not cover it since there is egg wash on the unbaked loaf.
-Bake in the preheated 375F degree oven for 40-45 minutes. I check it at the 35-minute mark to see if it’s baking too fast on the top. If it’s getting brown too fast, tent it with a good-sized piece of foil.
-Take it out of the oven when it’s done and carefully slide a knife around the inside edges to loosen the bread from the pan.
-Let it cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes.
-Slide the loaf out onto a rack to completely cool before slicing. Cool at least for 20 minutes.
Serve it up for extra deliciousness – even FRENCH TOAST!
-Serve the bread warm with butter or whipped flavored cream cheese.
-Try this bread thick sliced and toasted. Drizzle it with honey or spread it with butter for an especially tasty breakfast.
-I’ve even had it for lunch sandwiched around ham and provolone cheese…yum!
-An experience you won’t forget is Strawberry Brioche FRENCH TOAST. Wait until the bread is 3-4 days old and slice it thick. Draw it through your usual egg and milk dredge. Fry it in bacon grease. After you’ve flipped it once, sprinkle a little mixture of cinnamon and sugar on top. Serve it up with whipped cream and fresh cut strawberries. What a memorable breakfast or brunch!
Storage:
-This bread is easy to store in a covered container for up to 3-5 days at room temp. I keep it longer, up to a week, in the refrigerator.
-To freeze, I wrap it in foil, then in an airtight container like a large zipper bag. I slice it first and separate each slice with plastic wrap or foil. Then it’s easy to pull a slice out for toasting since I’m the only one in my family who LOVES this bread. It’s similar to a cinnamon swirl, but with strawberry accents. MMMMM!
Whenever you like to make this for your family, and whether you want to ply it with strawberries, blueberries, or some other jam, “Bake your own Memories!”