Sunday, September 03, 2006

Raisin Pecan Bread


Sunday, September 3, 2006

According to Rose's notes on this bread, it's her husband's very favorite, of all the different breads she makes, and I'm sure she's made even more than 82. I'm not sure it was Jim's favorite, but it may well have been in the top five. I loved it too. Fortunately, I decided that I wasn't going to let my braces keep me from eating nuts and raisins, although, strictly speaking, they're both on the verboten list.
Although this isn't a cinnamon-raisin bread (which I already made, back in the distant past), I kept thinking that I smelled cinnamon while it was baking. It must be that the aroma of raisins calls up the thought of cinnamon. It didn't need any cinnamon, or anything else, though, because it's packed with nuts and raisins. So packed that I had trouble keeping them all in the bread dough because they kept wanting to rise to the surface and then make their way out onto the counter.
This bread, like the last few I've made, is supposed to be baked in an oblong LaCloche. Why didn't I just buy one? I have the round LaCloche, and I figured that was enough. Clearly, however, if I wanted to achieve perfection, I should just have ordered still another baking accoutrement. Even without being baked in LaCloche, this is still a fine-looking loaf of bread, but I know that somehow LaCloche makes it a more beautiful golden brown. Besides, I like saying LaCloche.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gosh, I love this project. If only I were so ambitious.

AnnaBananaBread said...

I love this bread! It's my favorite from the book so far. It hurts my hands to knead it though - all the nuts poke my hands. I especially like eating this with the Pierre Robert cheese she recommends - it's a little pricey but also stinky and delicious! Anyway - thanks for sharing your adventures!