In less than two days, this almond and orange pull-apart bread will be long gone and I’ll be headed to Austin for SXSW Interactive. It’ll be my third time visiting the city; the first was when I attended the HOW Design Live conference in 2009.
I’m both anxious and excited. After 11 years of traveling solo for work, I still get antsy before a trip. But I’m hopeful that this excursion will provide a welcome distraction from all the sad, angry and confusing thoughts I’ve been experiencing lately.
While I’ll mainly be covering the event via social media on behalf of my company, I’m looking forward to catching a few SouthBites sessions and exploring the local (and free) food scene. The icing on the cake will be seeing Anthony Bourdain, even if only from a distance.
If you’re looking for a fun baking project while I’m away, take this almond and orange pull-apart bread recipe for a spin. The finished product is striking yet inviting in appearance and strong yet delicate in taste and texture. If I could bury my head in the bread, I would – it’s that comforting.
Recipe adapted from Pastry Affair.
- ¼ cup water
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- ¼ cup sugar, divided
- ¼ cup whole milk lemon yogurt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2 eggs
- 2¾-3 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup sugar
- finely grated zest of 2 oranges
- ½ cup sliced almonds
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- In a large bowl, heat water until warm - about 30 seconds in the microwave should do. Add the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Whisk together until thoroughly combined and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining sugar, yogurt, butter, eggs, 2¾ cups flour and salt to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. Continue adding flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough comes together to form a shaggy ball; it should be tacky but not sticky. Then knead the dough by hand (or with a dough hook attachment) until it’s smooth and elastic - this will take about 10 minutes (or less if using a stand mixer). Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let it rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
- While the dough rises, combine the sugar and orange zest. Add the sliced almonds and stir to combine. Set aside.
- Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan or pullman loaf pan (for a loaf with perfectly straight sides).
- After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to a 24"x12" rectangle.
- Spread the butter over the dough in an even layer. Sprinkle the filling over the butter.
- Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough lengthwise into 6 equal-sized strips. Stack the strips on top of one another and cut the stack into 6 equal-sized pieces.
- Layer the dough stacks, cut sides up, neatly in the loaf pan. It helps to tilt the loaf pan a bit to keep your stacks from folding over on themselves.
- Cover loaf with a clean kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
- About 15 minutes before dough has finished rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. If the top of the loaf gets too brown before it is done baking, cover loosely with foil.
- Remove pan from the oven and turn out bread onto a wire rack. Let cool slightly before serving.
[…] went to Vancouver in January. I’m sure you’ve all seen sweet versions of pull-apart bread (like this or this), but this was the first time I’d come across a SAVORY version. As soon as my mom and I […]