Orange-Cinnamon Braided Bread & Ricotta-Honey Topped Toast
Author: 
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: Two 8½" loaves
 
This challah inspired bread is the ultimate breakfast loaf. A soft and sweet braided bread full of orange flavor and lovely cinnamon sugar spirals inside. Slice and eat fresh out of the oven or toast them the next day and slather with ricotta, honey and nuts for a filling breakfast.
You will need:
For the dough,
  • Active dry yeast - 1 tbsp
  • Water - ½ cup, around 110 deg.F
  • Orange juice - ½ cup, freshly squeezed
  • Eggs - 2, large
  • Vegetable oil - 6 tbsp
  • Honey - 2 tbsp
  • Orange zest - 2 tsp, heaped
  • All-purpose flour - 4¼ - 4½ cups plus a little extra, divided
  • Salt - ½ tsp
  • Sugar - ¼ cup
For the filling,
  • Butter - 2 tbsp, melted
  • Sugar - ½ cup
  • Cinnamon powder - 2 tbsp
  • Chocolate shavings - 1 oz, optional
For egg wash,
  • Egg yolk - 1
  • Water - 2 tsp
For topping the toasts,
  • Ricotta cheese - 1 cup
  • Honey - 2 tbsp
  • Pistachios - 8-10, chopped, for garnish
  • Dried rose petals - a few, for garnish
How to:
  1. Stir in yeast and 1 tsp of sugar in the warm water. Allow yeast to prove, around 10 minutes. The solution must be frothy and bulked up before using.
  2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the orange juice, eggs, oil, honey and zest till smooth.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 3½ cups of flour, salt and sugar.
  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the yeast solution and the other wet ingredients. Mix together with a wooden spoon (or electric beater) to form a wet dough. When the dough just comes together, tip it out onto a well-floured surface.
  5. Dough will be wet and sticky. Start kneading by incorporating the rest of the dough, a little at a time. Knead till dough is supple but still a bit sticky. Do not add too much flour to make the dough stiff, else your bread will come out tough.
  6. Oil the dough ball lightly and place it in a clean bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and rest the dough in a warm place till doubled, 1-2 hours depending on the weather.
  7. While dough is resting, prepare the cinnamon sugar by mixing the sugar and cinnamon powder in a small bowl. Shave some chocolate to top the loaves with. Set aside.
  8. Prepare your working area by lightly flouring it or laying down a large piece of parchment paper.
  9. Once dough is doubled, gently punch it down. Tip it onto the work surface and gently roll it into a rectangle, roughly 20" x 16".
  10. Liberally brush with melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar, leaving a ½" border at all the edges. Reserve 2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar for later.
  11. Roll the dough along the long side to form a log. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Cut the dough in half down the length of the dough, and start braiding the two pieces, taking care to keep the cut sides facing upwards as you braid. This gives the finished product a cool braided effect.
  12. Divide braided dough into two. Pinch the ends closed to seal. Place each formed half in two well-greased loaf pans (8½" x 4½").
  13. Cover with cling wrap and allow to rest till dough almost reaches the top of the pan or for another hour.
  14. Pre-heat the oven to 375 deg.F.
  15. Whisk together egg yolk with water for the egg wash. Brush tops of loaves with this egg wash. Sprinkle with reserved cinnamon sugar and some shaved chocolate, if desired.
  16. Bake for 40 minutes or till done (loaves should sound hollow when tapped or till internal temperature registers 190-200 deg.F). Check loaves 10-15 minutes prior to this and tent loosely with foil if the tops are browning rapidly.
  17. Remove from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes. Slice and serve warm or cool loaves completely on a wire rack before storing.
  18. Wrap bread tightly in cling wrap and store on the countertop for 1-2 days, 4-5 days in the refrigerator or freeze immediately for future use.
  19. Ricotta-Honey Toasts: Thickly slice the bread. Toast on medium-light setting.
  20. Whisk honey into the ricotta cheese. Top toasts with some of this spread. Sprinkle pistachios and dried rose petals on top before serving.
Notes:
1. Prep time here only shows hands-on prep time. This does not include dough resting times.
2. For smaller round loaves, cut the braided dough into 4 parts. Form each part into a rough circle on a 6" cast-iron skillet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or till done.
Recipe by At The Corner of Happy And Harried at https://www.happyandharried.com/2017/04/18/orange-cinnamon-braided-bread-ricotta-honey-topped-toast/