Raisin Brown Sugar Soft European Bread

Flavor: Sweet and savory; Technique: Baking; Time: Several hours; Difficulty: Moderate.

Detailed Steps for Making Raisin Brown Sugar Soft European Bread

Prepare all the ingredients. Rinse the raisins and let them dry completely.

Dissolve the brown sugar and salt in water. If using solid brown sugar, dissolve it in hot water first and let it cool before using.

Combine bread flour and yeast in a stand mixer bowl. Start the mixer on low speed until the dough forms, then switch to medium speed to knead until the dough is stretchy and forms a rough membrane when pulled.

Add softened, cubed butter. Continue kneading until the dough is soft and can be stretched into a membrane. The dough should be elastic but not necessarily form a perfect membrane. Shape the dough into a ball, place it back in the mixer bowl, and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour.

This is the risen dough.

Remove the dough, deflate it, and divide it into four portions.

Shape each portion into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest for ten minutes.

Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape, add the raisins, and roll up the dough with the raisins inside.

Roll the dough into an oval loaf shape and place it on a baking sheet to rise. If you don’t have a proofing box, cover with plastic wrap.

After about forty minutes of proofing, dust the loaf with some extra bread flour. Make cuts on top of the loaf before baking.

Preheat the oven for 5 minutes, then bake the bread at 180 degrees Celsius for 25 minutes.

Once baked, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before serving.