Cinnamon Swirl Brioche

Mmmm, is there any more comforting and wonderful smell that cinnamon scented baked items cooking in the oven? It’s such a sweet, warm and cosy aroma, with the promise of an irresistible treat nice the baking has finished. This cinnamon swirl brioche loaf hits the spot in so many ways – it looks stunning, smells amazing whist its cooking and tastes absolutely delicious – you can’t go wrong with that!!

I always find the brioche loaves and rolls look tempting on the supermarket shelves, to me they look rich, delicate and indulgent. A sort of luxury loaf for times of celebration. Obviously free from brioche are pretty hard to come by with their reliance on eggs and butter to enrich the dough! This recipe is pretty simple but gives beautiful results – the dough is enriched enough to be luxurious without being sickly, there is just a hint of sweetness in the dough, with the sugary cnnamon swirl giving the favour punch. We loved the slices plain, toasted or turned into a luxurious bread and butter pudding.

I also fancied making a show stopper loaf, one with ‘bake off’ worthy wow factor. I’d seen this technique of splitting and twisting the dough before and thought how stunning the results are for a technique which is essentially totally simple and straightforward. The swiss roll style spiral of cinnamon filled dough is basically split into two lengthwise with a little join left at one end. The two sides are then twisted so the cut edges face upward and then it’s twisted over itself giving a wonderfully gnarly and twisted effect, especially once risen and baked. I think we definitely ended up with the ‘wow effect’ I was looking for!

Cinnamon Swirl Brioche Loaf

(dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, soya-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

makes 1 loaf

500g plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp quick action yeast

100ml warm water

150ml dairy-free milk

1 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 cup dairy-free margarine, melted

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

Glaze:

1 tsp cornflour

2 tsp oat milk

1 tsp honey/syrup

1 tsp oil

1. Mix together the 1/3 cup of sugar and 1tbsp cinnamon and set aside.
2. Mix together the flour, salt, cinnamon, yeast and sugar
3. Pour in the water, oat milk and melted spread and mix to a soft dough
4. Knead for a good 5 to 10 minutes until smooth and bouncy
5. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise, you want it to double in size
6. Knock back and then roll into a large rectangle. Sprinkle over the sugar and cinnamon and then roll up into a tight swiss roll type cylinder.
7. Split in half lengthwise leaving a little join at one end. Turn the cut sides up so you can see the cinnamon sugar layers. Twist and then join the ends. Place in a loaf tin, cover with cling film and leave to rise again for another 30 minutes Mix together the glaze and set aside.
8. Bake for 45-55 minutes at 180 degrees Centigrade until they are golden, risen and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom
9. For extra shine, brush the top with the glaze 5 or 10 minutes minutes before the end of the baking