Raisin Bread

I love raisin bread eventhough I know it's in the category of calorie rich foods. I think once a while I may break the rules by eating high carbs foods as comfort... and then burn it out again by doing some exercises. My motto is "Life is only once so enjoy it while you still can" :o)

My ambition is to make my own raisin bread. But right now it's easier and faster to buy it (pics below) from the local bakery. What I can do now is to keep this recipe in my blog just in case I feel want to bake it myself.

The recipe is originally taken from here.

This is also my entry for Jugalbandi Click event for the month March 2009 with the theme Wood.

Ingredients:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup raisins
1/4 cup soft butter
1/4 cup sugar
>1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup scalded milk
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten

Preparation:
1. Dissolve yeast in warm water.

2. In a large bowl, combine raisins, butter, sugar, salt, and hot milk; stir to dissolve the sugar. Let mixture cool to lukewarm.

3. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the flour; beat well. Add yeast mixture and the beaten eggs; mix to blend well.

4. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft but stiff dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.

5. Place dough in a lightly buttered bowl, turning once to grease the surface. Cover with a clean dish cloth; let stand in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

6. Punch dough down and divide into 2 portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.

7. Shape into 2 loaves; place in 2 greased 8x4x3-inch loaf pans. Cover and let rise again for about 45 to 60 minutes, until almost double.

8. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, placing foil over loaves the last 10 minutes, if loaves are getting too brown. Remove loaves from pans and let cool on racks.

Smoked Salmon Croissant

Nothing is wonderful having brunch on Sunday morning accompanied by fresh baked bread and croissants and a cup of coffee. This is what we normally do on Sunday morning. But because now is Ramadhan which is a fully month fasting so I can't do this for a while. But I still can have croissant for my morning eat during Ramadhan.

This time I make my croissants filled in with smoked salmon. I'm not such a person who would do the effort to make the dough by myself and especially if it's easily to find in the local grocery, so I just bought a ready-made croissant dough and fill it with smoked salmon and bake it in the oven... voilà ready, fresh and still warm straight from the oven. Perhaps the taste would slightly different than if you make the dough by yourself. But for now lets give a try for simple and easy made croissant filled with smoked salmon...;)