Betsy And The Great World

Betsy Ray and her Great World is finally making its way into yours. One of the recipes that we ran out of room for in the SBH Kitchen article, "A Tray Full of Everything," was Bavarian Breakfast Bread—meant to be from Betsy's stay in Munich. It's too delicious (and too quick to concoct!) to be entirely omitted; so we serve it up here instead, while Betsy and the Great World and other recipes from all over Betsy's Europe wend their way through the mails.

Bavarian Breakfast Bread By Nancy Young

2 cups milk, warmed to about 115°
1 tablespoon dried yeast
½ cup sugar
½ cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt
About 5 cups or more flour, white or whole wheat (5 cups will do it if it's whole wheat, may be closer to 6 cups if it's white)
1 cup raisins
A little beaten egg

Place the milk in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer and stir in the yeast. Allow yeast to proof for about five minutes, then add the sugar, butter, salt and four cups of the flour. Attach paddle or dough hook—I prefer the paddle, it's faster and keeps the dough lighter, but either works well—and mix the ingredients for about a minute.

Add sufficient additional flour as necessary to make a nice, lively soft dough. (It will be somewhat rich from all that practically uninterrupted butter. Very happy stuff.) Mix in the raisins, and set the dough aside to rise until doubled—about one hour. Deflate dough and divide into two equal portions—I like to shape it according to the knot, pictured here, (for instructions see the Shakespeare in Winter issue of The Storybook Home Journal)—but any preferred shape will do nicely. It also does quite admirably in Charlotte molds.

Brush with the beaten egg and allow to rise once more until doubled—about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°. Once the loaves have risen, brush them with the beaten egg a second time, if you have any egg to spare, and place them in the oven. Bake until they're fat and golden and your children are actually expired on the floor from anticipation—around 25 to 35 minutes. A perfect breakfast bread for Valentine's Day…or Lincoln's birthday…or Washington's birthday…or Tuesday…or Thursday…you get the idea…

Tags: 2011, Recipes by Nancy Young