Thursday 8 January 2009

Raisin Sandwich Bread

It's the start of the new year, and unlike last year, we are able to settle down to our routine life fairly quickly. This also means that I'm able to start my regular baking sessions right away. My first bake of the new year is none other than a sandwich loaf.

The original recipe is meant for a plain bread but I added in some raisins to give it more taste. In the past I would knead in the raisins and leave the dough to rise. I have since learned that it is necessary to soak the raisins in water until they plump up, this way, they would not absorb moisture from the dough, affecting the end result of the finished bread.

Other than the overly browned crust, the bread was deliciously soft. Even though it was made with just a few basic ingredients, and only a very small amount of sugar and butter was used, the taste of the bread was not compromised. It is the kind of everyday bread that we will never get tired of. It is going to be a regular on our breakfast table.



Raisin Sandwich Bread

Ingredients

350g bread flour
5g (about 1 & 1/4 tsp) instant yeast
10g caster sugar
6g (1 tsp) salt
150g milk (I use low-fat fresh milk)
100g water
10g unsalted butter
100g raisins (soak in water for 10-15mins, drain and pat dry)


Method:
  1. Place all ingredients except the butter in the pan of the bread machine (according to the sequence as stated in the instruction manual of your bread machine). Select the Dough function of the bread machine and press start. After about 8mins of kneading (the ingredients should form a smooth dough by now), add in the 10g of butter. Let the machine continue to knead the dough. After the kneading cycle has stopped (20mins), Stop and Restart the machine. Continue to let the machine knead for another 10mins.
  2. Stop the machine and remove dough from the bread pan. Shape the dough into a smooth round and place in a lightly greased mixing bowl , cover bowl with cling wrap and let dough rise till double in volume for about 60 ~ 90 mins.
  3. Remove dough and give a few light kneading on a lightly floured work surface. Press out the trapped air as your knead. Divide into 3 equal portions and shape them into rounds. Cover with cling wrap, let the doughs rest for 15mins.
  4. Flatten and roll out each dough into an oval shape (20cm by 10cm). Place raisins on the dough and roll up swiss roll style and pinch the seams in place. Place doughs in a loaf pan (size, 7.5"x4"x4", well greased), seams side down. Cover with cling wrap and let dough proof for 60mins or until double in size.
  5. Bake at preheated oven at 200 degC for about 25mins until the bread is golden brown all over. Cover the surface with a sheet of aluminum foil if the surface browns too quickly.
  6. Remove from oven and unmold immediately. Let cool completely before slicing.
  7. Recipe adapted from 简单又好做,小烤箱面包

18 comments:

martina said...

Hi HHB!
Glad to be the first one for 2009! I've just kneaded -by hand :)D - some bread too. I found this one terrific and I think I'll make it soon! After so many days of great food I like to relax with simple (but tasty) stuff. Hope you had happy holiday with your family, I did. I stayed in my parents' house for Christmas and it snowed. It's very uncommon for us...but I really appreciated this time!
I wish you (and yours) a very special year, I'll follow you close
Martina

sherlyn said...

HHB, do you mean to put 3 dough into one loaf pan? or there is a need for 3 loaf pan ? (sorry I cant "calculate" from the size of dough and pan, maths no good)

Can every thing be done in a bread machine?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Martina, sounds like you had a wonderful holidays! Yes, after all the feasting, it is always good to go back to something simple :)

Hi Sherlyn, no, you only need one loaf pan. Just place the 3 doughs side by side inside the pan. You can certainly use the full cycle of the bread machine to bake the loaf...although I am not sure whether the texture will be still as good, as I find that baking with the bread machine tends to yield a harder crust.

quizzine said...

Hi HHB,
Your beautiful pictures never fail to tempt me to your deliciously-looking bakes!
Cheers,

Cuisine Paradise said...

Hi HHB,

Each every one of your posts are always full of excitment for the readers like us... Do keep it up to produce more great posts!!!!

Anonymous said...

HI,
Can 5 check with you as to why the raisin bread i baked become hard the next day?Is it something to do with the ingredients?

Anonymous said...

Help! Can you tell me why my bread turns hard after awhile? is it too much flour?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, I am not sure what went wrong, but if you follow the amount of flour in the recipe, I don't think it is due to the flour. As many factors could affect the texture of the bread, you may want to elaborate on how you went about making the bread. You can also visit this site (http://www.baking911.com/bread/problems.htm) to see whether you can find the cause of the baking problem.

Anonymous said...

hi hhb,
thanks for the prompt reply...i checked out 911 but nothing mentioned about hard bread. I followed one of the recipes in the bluesky manual..the other reason i can think of is perhaps i put in too much mixed fruit? I put in more than the recipe required. i think i will try again..:)..hopefully it will work

Susan from Food Blogga said...

That strawberry mat or tablecloth is adorable! It looks so retro!

sherlyn said...

Thanks HHB. :)

Anonymous said...

hi, i'm a student studying abroad far away from home and what i've got here is just a manual microwave... and i am wondering whether is there any simple baking recipe??? CNY is near, but i'm still stuck in this place.... unable to go home... i tot at least i can bake myself something..

p/s: sorry for the grammer mistakes..

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi wongsooching, I am not sure what you have in mind to bake? If you are looking for CNY cookies, you can take a look at Florence's blog (http://www.wlteef.blogspot.com). Happy Baking!

D4D said...

Hi HHB,

My son and daughter love raisin bread and I'm planning to do it =)

i just started to learn baking.. so, sorry if the question seems abit weird :P

i wonder why the recipe/method to make "Raisin Sandwich Bread" is more complicated (as in wait here and there to let the dough 'rest') than the "Raisin Loaf" (whereby you've mentioned let the bread machine do the work)? Is it because you're using Oven for "RSB" and bread machine for "RL"?

i only have Microwave Oven, so not sure if that's ok?

Please enlighten me :)

mommy of 3 (@.@)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi mommy of 3,
The bread machine is programmed in such a way that during certain part of the cycle, the machine will let the dough rest, or turn the dough a little. For this recipe, since I proof it and shape it without using the machine, certain steps have to be done. You may want to read more about bread baking from this site baking911.com. It provides detailed information on the entire process of making bread.
Sorry I do not know about baking with a Microwave oven...but as long as it can be used to bake cakes, then it should be alright.

D4D said...

Hi HHB,

Thanks! I will check it out @ the site and have a try :)

i've tried to make chocolate raisin cupcakes (using yeast as part of the ingredient)... also required me to rest the dough for a period of time and it turns out ok =)

raisin_lover said...

hi HHB,
I've tried your recipe twice and the bread tasted great. However, I dont understand why the sides and top are not browned after 30mins of baking. I pullman tin was covered during baking.
Appreciate yr advice. Thank you

Happy Homebaker said...

hi rasin_lover, did you have problem using other recipes? Do other recipes give this same problem? If not, maybe you can set your oven temperature similar to those that give a browned loaf? If not, do make sure you preheat your oven to the right temperature, and set the pullman tin nearer to the heating coil? hope this helps :)