I love slightly sticky dough when I want to make soft bread loaves like this sugar topped raisin bread. With eggs, honey and more than the usual amount of water added, the final dough will be much more wobbly than usual, but after 30 minutes in the oven set at 160C, it transforms itself into an almost sponge cake like texture bread.
I made 3 slashes to the bread before baking and topped with butter strips a sprinkle of sugar. This is to mimic the sugar-topped bread rolls that are a common item in the neighborhood bakeries. But I get to control the amount of sugar this time.
Potato Raisin Bread
300g plain flour 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1 tablespoon raw honey 140g mashed potatoes 1 egg ** 85g water 20g cold butter, cubed 60g raisins For toppings : butter cut into strips 1 -2 tablespoons sugar
** I used a small egg weighing 60g with shell.
*** Soak the raisins in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain and squeeze slightly to remove excess liquid before use.
In a mixer bowl, add dry ingredients : plain flour, instant yeast, sea salt and stir well with a hand whisk. Next add raw honey, cooled mashed potatoes, egg and start the mixer running to knead with a dough attachment. Slowly drizzle water while the mixer is running. Once all ingredients come into a ball, stop adding the water and turn off the mixer. Leave this aside to stand for 15 minutes undisturbed.
After 15 minutes, turn on the mixer again for 1 minute, before adding cubed butter one by one. Knead this until it reaches the window pane stage. Then add raisins into the dough, let the mixer run for another 1 minute to let the raisin be incorporated into the dough. It is ok if the raisins are not mixed uniformly, this can be done during the shaping stage when the dough is repeatedly stretch and fold. Remove bowl from mixer and cover to bulk rise for 60 minutes.
After 60 minutes, the dough would have expanded to double its volume. Punch to deflate it and transfer to a clean worktop. The dough will be sticky, dust worktop and hands with flour to make the dough easier to handle. A bench scraper will be extremely useful for handling such sticky dough too. Using the stretch and fold method, shape the dough into a slight oblong bread. Leave it aside covered for its final 60 minutes proof.
Preheat the oven to 160C. Slash the bread and place butter strips where the slash marks are. Mist the top of the dough with water, then sprinkle sugar on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
When the baking is done, transfer the bread to a rack to cook completely before slicing to serve or store in an airtight container.
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