Cinnamon Swirl Povitica Bread

Remember those cinnamon swirl pinwheel snack cakes that your mom used to put in your lunch when you were little? I used to unroll them before I ate them. Well this bread is exactly like that.

I made the dough, went to the coffee shop for an hour to do some work, walked over to the new Green Street Consignment and got a pair of AG Jeans for $24.00, then went home and made my bread. The dough needed 90 mins to rise so I had plenty of time to do some shopping, and since I had to leave my mom at the consignment shop because she was taking so long to try on dresses, I ended up rolling the dough out all by myself- my first adventure with yeast was a huge success!!

I found this recipe on Brownie Bite's Blog. I added raisins to the filling and I'm thinking next time apples or chunky applesauce in there too. Or some kind of a coffee cake crumble filling. There are a lot of possibilities. I also added some extra cinnamon, right before I rolled up the dough in a spiral. Ooooh I should have sprinkled some on top before I put it in the oven too!! Next time...

Ingredients:

ACTIVATING THE YEAST:
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

FOR THE DOUGH:
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour, measured then sifted

FOR THE FILLING:
1 1/2 cups walnuts, ground or chopped
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

FOR THE TOPPING:
1 egg, beaten (to brush onto the dough)
Mixture of demerara (or any raw sugar), cinnamon, and cardamom


Method:

ACTIVATE THE YEAST:
In a small bowl, stir 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp flour and yeast into 2 TBS warm water. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow it to stand for 5 minutes until bubbly.

MAKE THE DOUGH:
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to just below boiling , stirring constantly. Allow to cool slightly.

In bowl of mixer, add the scalded milk to 3 TBS sugar and 3/4 tsp salt until combined. Add the beaten egg, 1 TBS melted butter, and the yeast mixture. Add 1/4 cup of the sifted flour. Stir until combined. Slowly add small amounts of the remaining flour (1 3/4 cups) until the dough begins to clean the bowl. (I had to add a couple more tbsp of flour to really get the dough to pull together).

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, continuing to add small amounts of flour until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Place dough ball into a greased mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Go shopping

TO MAKE THE FILLING:
In a bowl, mix together the walnuts with sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.

In a saucepan, heat the milk and butter to boiling, and then pour over the nut mixture.

Allow to cool slightly and then add egg yolk and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Allow mixture to come to room temperature.

ASSEMBLING THE DOUGH:
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and with a floured rolling pin roll out dough to a rectangle approximately 10×12 inches. Continue rolling until dough is very, very thin. Occasionally lift the dough and sprinkle extra flour on your surface as needed to prevent sticking and tearing.

Spread nut filling over the top of dough, leaving a little room around the edges. Spread raisins on dough as well. Shake some extra cinnamon on there while you're at it.

Carefully and slowly roll the dough up like a jelly roll. Starting at the center, gently pull the log toward the edges to make it slightly longer.

Using a 9×5 loaf pan as a guide, create an S-shape with your dough that will fit inside of the pan.
Thoroughly grease your pan and lay the dough inside. Then brush with a beaten egg and top with raw sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes. Turn down oven temperature to 300F and bake an additional 45 minutes. Add an aluminum foil tent to dough if it starts to brown too quickly or too much. Bread is done when it is a deep golden brown, begins to pull away at the edges, and has a hollow sound when you thunk on it.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from pan. Slice with a serrated knife. Sometimes it’s easiest to turn the loaf upside down before cutting.