Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf

Bread hates me. It's just a fact of life that I have to deal with because every single time that I have made bread it turns out rubbish and then someone else will do the exact same recipe and it will turn out perfect. Enriched dough's, however, seem to work in my favour. I found this recipe really easy to follow and the loaf turned out great. I would advise making this the night before and serving it lightly toasted with lashings of butter and a glass of milk for breakfast the next day.

Recipe taken from The Great British Bakeoff: How to turn everyday bakes into showstoppers.

Best served toasted and with butter

Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf

Ingredients:

For the loaf:
> 500g strong white bread flour
> 1tsp sea salt flakes crushed
> 2tbsp caster sugar
> 7g dried yeast
> 125ml milk
> 50g unsalted butter
> 1 large egg, at room temperature

For the filling:
> 50g caster sugar
> 1tsp plain flour
> 1tbsp ground cinnamon
> Milk for brushing

To finish:
> Milk, for brushing
> small knob of butter

Method:

1. Mix together the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the dried yeast.

2. Gently warm the milk with 125ml water and the butter until lukewarm and the butter has melted. Remove from the heat. Add the egg and beat with a fork until combined. Add this to the flour mixture and slowly stir to make a soft but not sticky dough. If the dough seems too dry then add more milk, one tablespoon at a time. If the dough is too sticky then add more strong flour, one tablespoon at a time.

3. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured worktop and knead thoroughly for about 10 minutes by hand. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in size.

4. Meanwhile grease and line a 900g loaf tin.

5. In a small bowl mix the sugar, flour and cinnamon together.

6. Punch down the risen dough to deflate and turn out onto a lightly floured worktop and pat out into a rough rectangle. Cover lightly with a sheet of clingfilm and leave to relax for about 5 minutes- this will make it easier to roll out the dough.

7. Lightly flour the rolling pin and roll out the dough to a rectangle as wide as the length of the tin and 48cm long, keeping the sides straight and neat. Brush the dough liberally with milk, then sprinkle over the sugar mixture in an even layer, leaving a 1cm border clear at one short end. Roll up the dough, neatly and tightly, from the other short end and pinch the seam together to seal it firmly.

8. Lift the rolled dough into the tin, gently tucking the ends under to make a neat shape. Slip the tin into a large plastic bag and slightly inflate it so the plastic doesn't stick to the dough, then tie the ends. Leave to rise as before until just doubled in size, (don't let the loaf become too big or it will lose its shape). Towards the end of the rising time preheat the oven to 180C.

9. Uncover the dough and brush lightly with milk. Bake for about 35minutes until a good golden brown and the turned-out loaf sounds hollow when it is tapped on the underside.

10. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and rub the butter over the top to give a glossy finish. Leave until completely cold before slicing. Eat with 5 days or freeze.