I learned the recipe of this honey-butter sweet bread a few months ago. What raised my interest was an unusual ingredient, namely corn flour, which rarely appears in ordinary, non-gluten-free yeasted dough recipes.
Unlike the classic sweet bread, it’s not braided, but spread with soft butter and rolled up. Let me warn you that this sweet bread may split during baking, but that won’t ruin its taste and the pleasure it provides. The recipe yields two rolls, which you can top with butter or jam, or you can eat plain.
The quantity of the all-purpose flour given below is an approximate amount because it depends on the honey you have. If you use set honey, you won’t probably have to add more all-purpose flour to the dough. But if you make it with runny honey, it’s pretty certain that your dough will be sticky and you will need to add more flour in order to be able to roll it out.
Ingredients:
- 400 g (~3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
- 100 g (~3 1/2 oz) yellow corn flour
- 2 eggs + 1 egg for the egg wash
- 30 g (~1 oz) fresh yeast (3 tsp dry yeast)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 150 ml (~2/3 cup) milk
- 100 g (~3 1/2 oz) honey
- pinch of salt
- 1 tbsp sour cream or yoghurt
- 100 g (~3 1/2 oz) butter
Place sugar and yeast in a small bowl, pour in tepid milk, give it a stir and let the mixture rest for a couple of minutes.
Put flour and corn flour in a bowl. Add salt, honey, 2 eggs, sour cream and the activated yeast, and knead into a smooth dough that can be rolled out easily. If you find your dough too sticky, add more all-purpose flour until dough stops sticking to the sides of the dish. Cover and allow the dough to rise for 40-50 minutes.
Meanwhile soften and cream the butter.
Turn out the dough on a floured surface, divide it in half and form two balls. Roll out the first dough ball into a thin rectangle and spread half of the butter on it evenly. Roll up the dough and place it seam side down on a baking pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat the process with the second dough ball too. Cover the sweet breads and let them rise for 30-40 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 356°F. Slightly beat an egg and brush it on the top of the sweet breads. Poke them with a fork or a skewer and bake them for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
