Bread Machine (191 page)

SUZANNE’S EASTER BREAD WITH VANILLA CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

M
y friend Suzanne Rosenblum bakes this rich egg bread (using liquid egg substitutes) in a rectangular glass pan, which makes it a perfect fit for the medium Federal Express box, and ships it all over the United States to members of her family for Easter. She encloses directions for icing the bread (
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can each of Duncan Hines Vanilla Frosting and Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting mixed together with 2 teaspoons of hot water). I have included a cream cheese icing from scratch, but you can choose whatever frosting is convenient for you. Cut this bread into squares to serve for Easter brunch or for a breakfast treat with coffee.

For the cream cheese frosting:

One 3-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2
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cups sifted confectioners’ sugar

1
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- OR 2-POUND-LOAF MACHINES

For the dough:

1 cup half-and-half

4 large eggs, or commercial liquid egg substitute equivalent

6 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, cut into pieces

4
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cups unbleached all-purpose flour

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cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2
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teaspoons SAF yeast or 2
³
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teaspoons bread machine yeast

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cup dried figs, stemmed and chopped

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cup pitted dried prunes or dates, chopped

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cup dried pineapple, chopped

1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour, for sprinkling

To make the dough, place the dough ingredients, except the dried fruit, in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer’s instructions. Program for the Dough cycle; press Start. At the end of Knead 2, press Reset and program the cycle over again, giving the dough another full kneading. The dough will be sticky and have the consistency of a soft, smooth batter.

Grease the bottom and sides of a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle, press Stop and unplug the machine. Turn the dough out into a deep greased bowl. Sprinkle the fruit with the tablespoon of flour. Sprinkle the dough with the chopped dried fruit and fold chopped dried fruit and fold over the edges in the bowl to encase the fruit. Gently knead to distribute the fruit. The dough will remain very soft, almost sticky.

Scrape the dough into the prepared pan, pressing into the corners. Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with vegetable oil cooking spray and let rise at room temperature until 1 inch above the rim of the pan, about 1 hour.

Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350ºF (lower the temperature by 25º if using a glass pan).

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the bread is golden brown, the top is firm to the touch, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and invert onto a wire rack. Immediately invert again onto another rack to cool upright. When cool, wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for up to a day before icing. Store in the refrigerator after icing.

To make the frosting, beat the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating well. Add enough sugar to make a soft frosting that is between spreading and pouring consistency. Add a teaspoon of hot water if it is too stiff. Use immediately. Place the bread on a serving platter or board. Spread the frosting all over the top. It is okay if the frosting drips down the sides of the bread.

The Perfect Gift—Homemade Bread

Whether sent in the mail or delivered by hand, homemade bread made in the bread machine is a welcome gift at any time of the year. As a hostess gift, for a birthday, christening, or for any holiday, it is a wonderful way to treat the special people in your life. For Christmas, giving the gift of bread allows you to eliminate much of the fuss, the shopping rush, and the expenses often associated with the holiday. Plus, you’ll surround yourself with evocative aromas as you bake at home.

My dear friend Judy Larsen is a great home bread baker and the one who gave me some of my first bread recipes, handed down from her mother. She always came to dinner or celebrated a holiday by giving loaves of bread. Graham bread was a surefire hit, and her white bread was embellished in all different ways for all sorts of occasions. One Christmas, she braided the loaf, glazed it with a vanilla—confectioners’ sugar icing, and decorated it with candied red cherry halves on every bump down the braid (the cherries stayed in place because she placed them while the icing was wet; they adhered naturally when it dried). The loaf looked wonderful and tasted even better. Judy’s beautiful loaves are largely what spurred me to take up holiday breadmaking. I began using regular and glazed nut halves for decorations, and whole silver almonds or dragées, which look really unique and festive.

If you have many people on your gift list, make a list of those you want to bake for (remember to be realistic about the amount of time you have) and collect the proper canisters, containers, boxes, labels, mailing tape, and packing material you will need for gift-giving or shipping. You will also need paper doilies, ribbon, plastic storage bags, foil, or plastic wrap, colored cellophane or tissue paper, and cardboard cake rounds, in addition to any decorative touches you decide on. The Baker’s Catalogue and Miles Kimball have fabulous bread bags designed especially for bread machine loaves, (see Resources
Bread Machines, Baking Equipment, Flour, Ingredients, and Other Baking Products
and
Preserves, Glacéed and Dried Fruits, Spices, and Other Sweet Bread Ingredients and Bakeware
).

Begin baking early, and keep the breads in the freezer, waiting to glaze and decorate them until close to delivery or shipping dates. Choose recipes you have made before, or new ones that are appropriate to your baking ability. Be aware beforehand of what the recipes entail. If you are making panettone, for example, there may be special shopping for needed ingredients, and you would have to prepare the orange confit ahead of time. If the recipient is a baker, I usually include the recipe, written on some beautiful paper; this is something else you could do ahead of time, if you wish.

Breads for Christmas should be sent by the end of the second week in December for Christmas delivery. At other times of the year, one week ahead of when you want the bread to arrive is soon enough to mail it. If the loaf was baked outside the machine, you can send it right in the pan in which it was baked. Wrap the bread first in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil (some bakers eliminate plastic wrap because they feel it changes the flavor of the bread), or in plastic bags.