Strawberry Rhubarb pull apart Bread

For National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day I wanted to do something a little different, and since I was so taken by the delicious and tender dough from the Polish fruit pastry pies I made a couple of years ago I knew this was what I was making!

The inspiration for the style of bread art just came through browsing the net and seeing an interesting savoury Hungarian bread made in this fashion, definitely going to be doing something savoury with this cool design.

Strawberry Rhubarb pull apart bread

Dough - Using a Jagodzianki Polish recipe by Ania's kitchen

Mix the following and set aside for 20 minutes:

1/2 cup of lukewarm milk
1 1/2 tsp of instant yeast
2 tbs of white all purpose flour
2 tbs of white granulated sugar


Mix the following in your kitchen aid bowl:

2 cups of white all purpose flour
1/3 cup of white granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

Have these handy:
2 eggs
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup of melted butter, cooled


In to the bowl of your stand mixer add all the ingredients for the
dough (flour, sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla) except melted butter. Add proofing yeast mixture and mix with a paddle
attachment until all is well combined. Add melted butter and mix for
another couple of minutes.


Spray with oil and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled
in size ( around 2 hours).



Filling:

Roasted Strawberry and rhubarb

1 cup rhubarb, chopped
3 cups chopped strawberries

Sprinkling of sugar

Lay out the fruit in a single layer in a glass baking pan (like a lasagna pan) and bake on 425 F until they're all syrupy and roasted/caramelized. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

Once it's done it'll be pretty mushy like a jam, add more sugar, enough to your taste and a squeeze of lemon juice (about 2 tsp)

Set aside.


Assemble:

Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of flour and knead with a dough
attachment until the dough is smooth and elastic. (around 5 minutes).
Transfer the dough on to your working surface sprinkled with some
flour. Knead it few more times and then divide it in two and roll into two circle on a parchment paper.

Spread the rhubarb strawberry mix onto the first round without going too far onto the edge, kind of like making a pizza, leave a rim.

Put the other round on top gently and seal the ends all around.

Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise for 20 minutes.

Now place a glass as your guide in the middle and start cutting strips like the rays of the sun around the whole dough, use a sharp knife to cut through the dough nice and neatly.

Begin pulling one piece slightly and twisting twice clockwise or counter clockwise depending on your preference. Lay the piece back down and begin with the next until all of them are twisted.

Beat one egg and brush over the entire top, then sprinkle some sugar.

Bake on 360 for 20 minutes, be sure to check so the bottom doesn't brown too fast, you may need to double up on baking trays.

Blueberries & Cherries...

I love all the fruits we're seeing in stores during summer ... especially cherries, ever since I learned this interesting new technique to pit them I've been addicted to pitting cherries for pies, cakes, and even just freezing batches for future goodies.

Here is a bit of baking that I've done over the last week...

Blueberry boy baits - see Smitten Kitchen for recipe here (leftover edges turned into biscotti! Baked on 160 F in the oven until crisp and dry), Polish fruit buns called Jagodzianki and also a batch of roasted cherry brownies from last week's cherry sundae.

Jagodzianki (see recipe + video here courtesy of the lovely Ania's kitchen)

Dough:

2 cups of white all purpose flour

1/3 cup of white granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of lukewarm milk

1 1/2 tsp of instant yeast

2 tbs of white all purpose flour

2 tbs of white granulated sugar

1/4 cup of melted butter

Filling:

2 cups of blueberries (I did 1 cup of each blueberry and pitted cherries and divided the remaining ingredients for both)

1/3 cup of sugar

2 tbs of flour

Topping:

1 beaten egg

2 tbs of sugar

In a small mixing bowl add milk, 2 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs of flour and

yeast. Mix until well combined. Set aside to start foaming. ( around

20 minutes)

In to the bowl of your stand mixer add all the ingredients for the

dough except melted butter. Add yeast mixture and mix with a paddle

attachment until all is well combined. Add melted butter and mix for

another couple of minutes.

Spray with oil and cover with a kitchen towel. Let rise until doubled

in size ( around 2 hours).

Mix your blueberries with sugar and flour.

Sprinkle the dough with a little bit of flour and knead with a dough

attachment until the dough is smooth and elastic. (around 5 minutes).

Transfer the dough on to your working surface sprinkled with some

flour. Knead it few more times and then roll into 0.5 cm thick

square. Cut squares around 5 to 7 cm in size.

Fold around 1 tbs of blueberries in to the dough squares forming nice

buns. Place them on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper

leaving them space to rise. Spray with non-stick spray.

Let them rise for about 20 minutes.

Paint with beaten egg and sprinkle with some sugar.

Bake in preheated oven to 180 degree Celsius for 20 minutes.


Roasted Cherries:

Pitted cherries roasted in the oven on 425 F for 30 minutes. Add a squeeze of lime, lime zest and a drop of balsamic vinegar and some water. Stir from time to time.

Cooled and mixed into the batter of my favourite brownie recipe.

My favourite brownie recipe

3/4 cup vegetable oil (or sunflower)

1 1/2 cup white sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa plus 3 tbsp

1/4 tsp baking powder plus 1/8 tsp

1/4 tsp salt plus 1/8 tsp salt

3/4 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). If using a glass pan put oven on 325 F.

(Grease a 8x8 inch baking pan.)

2. In a medium bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt; gradually stir into the egg mixture until well blended. Stir in walnuts, if desired. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30-40 minutes (this is just approximate time so keep an eye out!) or until the brownie begins to pull away from edges of pan.

Let cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares or frosting/glazing it.

A nice ganache topping with a sprinkling of salt makes this brownie just a bit more special!

(recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com Mmm-Mmm Better brownies)