Overnight Raisin Bread with Whipped Cinnamon Maple Butter

Ingredients

Raisin Bread

525 grams bread flour

400 grams lukewarm water (about 35°c / 95°f) divided

2 grams (½ tsp) instant yeast

10 grams salt

200 grams raisins

Whipped Cinnamon Maple Butter

150 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

50 grams maple syrup

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Big pinch of flaky sea salt

Preparation

Raisin Bread

In a large bowl, combine together the bread flour and 350g of the water. Combine with a spatula or your hands to form a stiff, shaggy dough. Cover with a tea towel and leave to sit for 30 minutes - this step is called the autolyse and allows the flour to hydrate. While the dough is resting, soak the raisins in boiling water for 15 minutes, then leave to drain.

After 30 minutes, add the remaining 50g of the warm water, the yeast, and the salt. Mix in by pinching and squishing the dough with your fingers, then stretch it up and fold it over on itself until it starts to come together. Add the raisins and continue to mix with your hands. It will feel like the dough won't come together but just give it some time - it will happen!

Mix the dough for five minutes using the stretch and fold technique. To do this, reach under a piece of the dough and bring it up and fold it over onto itself. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat again. Keep working your way around the bowl. Repeat this process for 5 minutes - this helps to mix in the raisins and develop strength within the dough. The dough will start to smooth out and you will feel it become more elastic.

Once you have finished mixing, transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl or plastic container, ideally with see-through sides. Cover with a lid or tea towel. Mark the level of the dough on the side of the bowl so that you can gauge how far the dough has risen throughout the process - for this I like to use something with straight sides so it is easy to see the rising. Place in a warm spot.

Proof the dough for two hours, with a set of stretch and folds every 30 minutes (so a total of four sets of stretch and folds). To stretch and fold, you repeat the same motion as in the mixing phase - reach under, stretch the dough up and over itself, then turn the container 90° and repeat again until you have done four stretch and folds. Then cover the dough and leave to sit for 30 minutes until you repeat the next set of stretch and folds.

Once you have finished the stretch and fold process, leave the dough to proof for another 1 1/2-2 hours, until it has doubled in size. The time that this step takes will depend on your environment and how warm your kitchen is. Go by how the dough looks rather than the time.

Once the dough has doubled, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Shape it into a ball shape by folding the edges over then flipping the dough ball over and using the counter to create tension to shape it into a ball. Cover with a lint free tea towel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.

Once your 30 minute bench rest is up, dust a round proofing basket or a kitchen bowl lined with a lint free tea towel with rice flour. Re-shape the ball of dough into a tight ball, then place round side down into your proofing basket.

Lightly cover the basket with plastic wrap or place loosely into a plastic bag, and place in the fridge overnight.

The next morning, when you are ready to bake, place your Kana Milo Dutch Oven into the oven and preheat at 500°f / 260°c for an hour. Getting the dutch oven super hot is important as it helps to give the bread rise in the oven and generate steam for developing a crust. While the oven is preheating, remove the plastic wrap or bag off the proofing basket and place it back into the fridge to let the bottom of the loaf dry out.

Crumple a piece of Kana pre cut parchment paper and place on your work surface. Lightly dust the bottom of the loaf with flour and then turn out onto the parchment paper. Using a razor blade or a sharp paring knife, score your bread as desired - you want at least one slash in the dough.

Remove the dutch oven from the oven and place onto a heat proof surface. Remove the lid. Very carefully, using the parchment paper as a sling, lower the loaf into the dutch oven and replace the lid.

Bake the bread in the dutch oven for 20 minutes at 500°f / 260°c, then remove the lid and drop the temperature to 450°f / 230°c for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the outside of the loaf is a deep golden brown.

Remove from the oven and remove the loaf and place on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely before slicing. Slice thick and serve with the whipped maple cinnamon butter.

Whipped Cinnamon Maple Butter

Place all ingredients into a medium bowl. Whip together with an electric hand mixer until well combined and smooth. Transfer to a container until ready to use.