Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Cinnamon Raisin Breakfast Ring

Last Saturday, we were invited to a brunch party, and that had me thinking about cinnamon rolls. I’ve made plain cinnamon rolls and pumpkin cinnamon rolls and tried different glazes on top, but I felt it was time to try something completely new and different. I found this breakfast ring in The Modern Baker, and this was just what I wanted to try. Incidentally, while looking through the book, I kept pausing and thinking yes, I have to make that sometime. I’m now sure that I’ll eventually bake every item in it. The blueberry crumb cake was irresistible, and I ended up baking that too. But, first, the breakfast ring. I thought the shape would be pretty, but I was curious if the taste and texture would be much different from my usual cinnamon rolls.

The dough is a quick brioche which is started with warmed milk, yeast, and flour. That mixture is left to bubble and rise for 20 minutes before it’s added to butter, sugar, salt, eggs, egg yolks, and flour in a food processor. There’s a tiny error in the breakfast ring recipe. You are instructed to follow the quick brioche recipe through step six, but you should actually only follow it through step four. That was no problem though; it’s obvious that you’re done at step four. The mixed dough was then chilled for an hour after which it was rolled into a rectangle on a floured surface. The filling included softened butter, light brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and chopped pecans, and that was spread over the rectangle of dough. The dough was rolled up jelly-roll style, transferred to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and then formed into a ring. Of course, I worried over the evenness of the circle. Where the ends meet, it forms a smaller cross-section that the rest of the ring, but a little coaxing and sculpting left it looking good enough.

The ring shape was smoothed and slightly flattened down from the top. Using scissors, cuts were made all around from the outside perimeter to about three-quarters of the way toward the center. Each piece was twisted to one side to expose the filling. You have to lift and pull a little to get the cut and turned pieces to sit nicely next to one another. After the twisting and flipping, the finished ring sat until doubled in size. An egg wash was applied, more chopped pecans were sprinkled on top, and it was baked. Once cool, it was dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Happily, it was sturdy enough to be transferred to a clean tray, but I feared that step and took photos prior to moving it.

I couldn’t wait to find out how it compared to the cinnamon rolls I’ve been making for years. Because of the ring shape, I couldn’t exactly have a little sample before presenting it to our hosts. So, I crossed my fingers and off we went. At the brunch, I heard some positive reactions about it from other guests and hoped they weren’t just being kind. Finally, I cut a piece for myself. The first bite informed me that it was good, second bite: yes, I like the raisins and pecans, third bite: ok, this dough is better than what I’ve been using for rolls, then no more thinking and just eating. The ring makes a nice presentation and is no more difficult than cutting rolls, but individual portions would be just as good. It was a definite keeper of a breakfast bread, and this tender brioche dough will be my new standard.

I’m submitting this to Yeastspotting where you’ll find some seriously well-made bread.


35 comments:

  1. I love this! What a great presentation; I've never seen or heard of a ring of interconnected cinnamon rolls. ;)

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  2. Hey!! Talking about the danger! ;-))
    These are something I would love to die for!

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  3. what a beautiful breakfast ring! my husband loves all things cinnamon - i may have to give this a shot!

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  4. I'd love a BIG, and I mean BIG, piece of that with my coffee. Looks fantastic!!

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  5. this whole internet is pissing me off - I am so close to this and so dang far away.....grrrrr

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  6. Doggybloggy always makes me laugh with her remarks. Seriously, you did a crackerjack job with that breakfast ring. It looks perfect and I wish I had some to tell you how delicious it must be.

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  7. Yum! Pour some frosting on it and you'd have a raisin-pecan king cake! Brioche is an awesome invention...

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  8. Ow wow, this looks so professional. i agree with you doggybloggy. i want my piece of bread!

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  9. Lisa, I'm beyond impressed by how gorgeous this is. I have made something in that shape before (from Cook's Illustrated) and was not able to coax my dough into anything that looked as beautiful as yours does. And I can't even imagine how good it tasted!

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  10. This looks AMAZING! I'm bookmarking this now! I've always wanted to make cinnamon rolls and this is the perfect recipe! Great presentation.

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  11. That looks so good. I'm drooling over here.

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  12. I'm SO impressed - it looks incredible!

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  13. This is a nice way to wake up in the morning. If that was baking in the oven, no one could resist a bit.

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  14. Oh wow, this is amazing! Looks perfect! I'm going to have to strive for this creation one of these days.

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  15. It's so gorgeous!!! I love the technique of forming the ring - I've never seen anything like it. It is really impressive! And you did a great job on it.

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  16. I, too, have been tempted to make this out of the "Modern Baker'' book. I admit, though, so far I've been to lazy to attempt it. :)
    I'm so glad you took the time and effort to make it, though. It came out so spectacular that it really motivates me to make it, too.

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  17. That's beautiful! I tried to make something similar once and all the leaves ended up uneven and the whole thing ended up oval instead of round :P

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  18. Wow, this looks beautiful and I would definitely not have the patience to make the ring perfect.

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  19. Wow. Wow. Wow. You are amazing! That is one of the most beautiful dishes I have ever seen.

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  20. Perfect!
    I have been wanting to make this for awhile. Looks absolutely beautiful and delicious Lisa!

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  21. wow! These are gorgeous! I love its ring shape and I'm sure it tastes wonderful. I'm always in search for new recipes for breakfast, so I'll definitely try this one.

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  22. Gorgeous presentation with the ring! I would to have some of this for my late breakfast right now!

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  23. in my eyes, this is simply a giant cinnamon roll, meant to eaten by me for breakfast. one breakfast. i could totally do it. :)
    awesome creation, lisa!

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  24. I need to eat this, all at one time> I am such a sucker for cinnamon, buns rolls anything.. this is the prettiest roll i have EVER seen. forget perfect circles, they don't matter.

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  25. This looks great! Now I want that Modern Baker! ;)

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  26. How beautiful. I once attempted to make something similar and it was not anywhere near as perfect as this one.

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  27. I can see I would have to fight many for this one...simply gorgeous, presentation, and description...

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  28. I have been eyeing that book, it sounds like such a good one. This recipe certainly turned out wonderfully, and so did your cherry crumb cake!

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  29. That is one beautiful ring. I have always wanted to try to make it, one day I will have the "excuse".

    Happy Baking!

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  30. This is truly beautiful! Feasting my eyes! Another masterpiece from you : )

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  31. This is a work of art! I can't wait to try it.

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  32. Oh my goodness, that looks awesome! Great presentation!

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  33. Ooh, that looks so wonderful! A nice big piece of it with some coffee please!

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  34. lisa these rings are just perfect for break fast.. m gonna try this out soon.. thanx for sharing..
    cheers!!

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