Hello my dear friends! Thought it was time to let you all know that Baby #2 arrived safe and sound last Tuesday night! And SHE is perfectly beautiful, and a tiny 6 pounds 11 ounces and 20.5 inches long. We are definitely all in love over here, including Ladybug who is thoroughly enjoying her Big Sister role.
I am going to take a little bit of time off to get acclimated to now being a mommy of two and loving and enjoying my new daughter, but I have quite a few awesome guest posts lined up for you from some dear friends of mine! I hope you enjoy them!
Hello Everyone, my name is Sawsan and it is my pleasure to be a guest at Jenni’s blog today. I came to know Jenni through the Daring Kitchen. She hosted a few amazing challenges like povitica and homemade sausages. She stood out as one of those people who are extra nice and helpful. She always has something sweet and supportive to say. Her passion shines through every challenge.
Jenni is due to have a baby any day now and when she asked me to write a guest post for her blog while she takes some time off. I couldn’t be happier to help. Since Jenni shares my passion for baking I thought I would share a bread recipe.
This braided bread is quick and easy to make which makes it a great choice for when you are tight on time and can’t make individual pastries. The fact that this bread is stuffed makes it versatile. Depending on the stuffing it can make for a great lunch, dessert or sliced up it can be a wonderful appetizer for a party. It is faster and easier than making individualized portions and the best part is: the possibilities for the stuffing are endless. To get your creative juices running here are a few stuffing suggestions:
Triple cheese stuffed bread: combine cheddar, Colby and Monterey Jack.
Mediterranean cheese: Feta, cheddar and Halloumi cheese with mint
Want a vegetarian version: try spinach and sautéed onions
Feeling like something sweet: some softened butter and cinnamon
Not into too much butter but still into something sweet: try stuffing it with date paste with cinnamon and cardamom
Table of Contents
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Try these other twisty breads:
- Twisted Cinnamon Sweet Bread – This beautiful bread is easy to make and a real show-stopper!
- Chocolate Cinnamon Sourdough Babka – This twisty and chocolate loaded bread is a real treat to make and eat!
Braided Date Bread
Yield:
12 Servings
Prep Time:
1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time:
25 minutes
Total Time:
1 hour 55 minutes
This braided date bread is a beautiful dessert or perfect for a fancy brunch.
Ingredients
Dough:
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) warm water
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup (57 gram) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (50 gram) white sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
- 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups ( 416-448 gram) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons (8 grams) dry yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) cardamom optional
For topping:
- 1/4 cup (60ml) of milk
- 1 tablespoon (14 gm)sugar
Stuffing:
- 500g pitted dates
- 4 tablespoons butter (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
Instructions
To prepare the stuffing:
- Knead the dates with butter, cinnamon and cardamom until you get a smooth soft ball. if you have a little trouble place all the ingredients in a pot and heat it gently while kneading with a wooden spoon. The heat will help soften the dates
- If your dates are a little dry pre-soak then in hot water for 10-15 minutes then drain them and add the butter and spices.
- In a bowl whisk the egg with milk, water, sugar, butter and yeast.
- Set aside
To make the dough:
- In another bowl sift the flour with the salt and the cardamom.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and knead until you get a smooth dough.
- Place it in a bowl you have brushed with some oil and cover it with a wet cloth and leave it in a warm place to double
- (If you are tight on time you can heat your oven to 200 C then turn it off and place your dough in a glass bowl and place it in the warm (turned off) oven with the wet cloth covering the bowl) for 1 hour.
To Assemble:
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface
- Roll into a rectangle
- Roll the date filling between two plastic bags
- Transfer the date filling on to the rolled dough, make sure that the size of the the date rectangle leaves 1 inch (2.5cm) margin all around
- Roll the dough from the long side into a tube form, pinch the side-seam closed.Cut the dough tube in half down the length of the dough tube.
- Place the halfs side-by-side, quickly braid the two together, keeping the open ended parts on top.
- Pinch the ends together, at this stage you can shape the bread into a wreath, securing both ends together. or you can leave it as a braid.
- Transfer to a parchment-lined or cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, or a pizza stone.
- Loosely cover the top with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes. It should rise a bit more during this time.
- During this time you would heat your oven to 270C (500F) (rack in the middle)
- Bake for 5 minutes on 270C (500F) then lower the temperature to 200 C (400 F) and cook for 15-20 more minutes (ovens do differ greatly, so the time may differ..what you want is to bake it until the under side is golden brown) turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes until it is golden brown on top.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 304Total Fat: 5gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 49mgCarbohydrates: 61gFiber: 5gSugar: 27gProtein: 6g
Roll the dough from the long side into a tube form, pinch the side-seam closed.
Cut the dough tube in half down the length of the dough tube.
Place the halfs side-by-side, quickly braid the two together, keeping the open ended parts on top.
Pinch the ends together, at this stage you can shape the bread into a wreath, securing both ends together. or you can leave it as a braid.
Transfer to a parchment-lined or cornmeal-dusted baking sheet, or a pizza stone.
Loosely cover the top with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 15 minutes. It should rise a bit more during this time.
During this time you would heat your oven to 270C (500F) (rack in the middle)
Bake for 5 minutes on 270C (500F) then lower the temperature to 200 C (400 F) and cook for 15-20 more minutes (ovens do differ greatly, so the time may differ..what you want is to bake it until the under side is golden brown) turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes until it is golden brown on top
Louise
Tuesday 6th of January 2015
Congratulations on the birth of your second daughter! I'm visiting from Sawsun's blog and delighted to see this yummy recipe. Best wishes!
CJ Huang
Saturday 26th of October 2013
Congrats! Gonna have to try this date bread. :)
SallyBR
Sunday 6th of October 2013
Congratulations! She is soooo gorgeous!
my niece in Brazil had her baby boy yesterday, so I am 6 thousand miles away and having to be happy just with photos and emails...
he is quite a bit smaller than your baby girl, though...
Hope to see photos coming in your blog soon!
a-boleyn
Monday 30th of September 2013
Congratulations on your lovely little girl. I hope mom and daughter are doing well.
Cher Rockwell
Saturday 28th of September 2013
Congratulations on the new addition!Beautiful guest post by Sawsan