Russian Cake Bread

So, I have these friends...we met on a Weight Watchers message board several years ago and have become invisi-sistahs. We obviously all love food and have spent many an hour talking about completely non-Weight Watchers friendly food. Food porn we call it. Last week they had this great idea to pattern a group baking day after Tuesdays with Dorie so we all pulled out our matching cookbooks and decided to give it a whirl. The weekly event was dubbed "Food Porn Friday" and I am fairly certain that nothing healthy is ever going to come out of that particular day. We are dedicating it to baking and I've got to tell you I'm a little bit intimidated. Baking is my absolutely worst kitchen skill so it could make for some hilarious stories!

Today's recipe was Russian Cake Bread taken from Greg Patent's "Baking in America". I have to admit I've read the book almost cover to cover this week like it was a novel and there are some seriously mouth watering things in there. This is like a big girl's cookbook because there is a serious lack of pretty pictures but I'm persevering. I guess if I don't have a picture to compare the finished product to I can't be too horribly discouraged!

The texture is extremely cakelike, duh, cake bread, and it's very sweet. Bri loved it and is ready to make it again already. :)


Russian Cake Bread
recipe from Baking in America

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus more if needed
1 1/4 oz pkg (2 1/4 tsp) fast rise active dry yeast
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp salt
8 Tbs unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Stir together 1 cup of the flour, the yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in the milk and heat the mixture until very warm (110-115 degrees). Reserve 1 Tbs of the beaten eggs for glaze. Add the remaining eggs, the warm milk mixture, and the vanilla to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until they are well moistened, then beat until the batter is smooth. Gradually addd the remaining 2 cups flour, beating until smooth after each addition.l The batter will be very thick and elastic. Add a bit more flour if necessary to bring the dough to the right consistency. Scrape the bowl, and cover it tightly with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place (85-90 degrees) until doubled in volume, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
3. Stir the dough down with a wooden spoon, cover it, and let it rise again in a warm place until doubled, 45 min to 1 hour.
4. Butter 2 8.5x4.5x2.75 inch loaf pans. Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled and very light.
5. Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350.
6. Gently brush the loaves with the reserved egg; try not to let any egg run down between the dough and the sides of the pans, or the dough may stick and rise unevenly. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, until the tops of the loaves are a deep golden brown and spring back when gently pressed. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes. Run a knife around each loaf to release it, and carefully remove from the pans. Set upright on wire racks to cool completely. To serve, cut the bread with a sharp serrated knife. Well wrapped the loaves freeze well for up to 1 month.