I’ve been kind of slacking on Daring Bakers’ posts lately, because…everything is just a bit more of a pain in Greece, but this one was pretty easy to bang together, and looks cool. Or, as they’d have us say: Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads. Who knew breads could look as great as they taste?

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, optional

Topping:

• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:

• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1/4 cup cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar

For Drizzling:

• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

To start the dough, whisk together the egg, milk, water, sugar, butter, and yeast in a medium bowl.

Or, say, the pot you warmed the milk and water in.

In a large bowl, sift together 3 1/4 cups of the flour, salt, and cardamom if you are using it, then stir the liquid ingredients in. Knead until a smooth dough forms, adding the remaining quarter cup of flour if needed. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn to coat, then cover the bowl and set somewhere warm to double, about an hour.

Once risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into four parts. Roll each quarter into a circle at least 8″ in diameter.

I need to look up a video on how to roll circles, apparently.

Line a baking sheet and set aside. Stir together the cinnamon and sugar of the filling. I know that that seems like an insane amount of cinnamon, but it is not overpowering in the final product. Brush 1/4 of the melted butter over one of the rolled out pieces of dough, and sprinkle 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter. Top with a second piece of dough, and repeat with another 1/4 of the butter and 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar, and again with the third piece of dough. Top with the final piece of dough, and brush with the remaining butter.

Cut the stack of dough circles into eight even pieces, using a sharp knife. In the center of each piece, cut a line that goes through all 4 layers, from about 1/2″ from the point to 1/2″ to the base.

Take the tip of each triangle, fold it back, insert it through the cut, and pull through. It’s like doing a topsy-tail hairdo!

As you’re handling each one, move them on to your baking sheet.

Pinch together the two outside corners of each triangle. The dough, especially with the butter, is moist enough it should stick together with no problems.

Brush the dough with the 1/4 cup milk, and sprinkle with sugar. Allow to rest 15 minutes while your oven preheats to 500, or whatever the highest it can reach is.

Lower the temperature to 460 as you put the pan in. Bake five minutes, then lower further, to 390 degrees. Bake 15-20 more minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes.

Transfer to a wire rack and drizzle the sweetened condensed milk on top. If you don’t have a wire rack, at least pull the pieces apart, or they will form a sort of pool, holding in all the condensed milk, and will eventually make the dough soggy.

At first bite, I thought maybe I would have preferred a milk/powdered sugar glaze, but in the end, I think the condensed milk was a nice change. The one person I was willing to share one of these with thought they were delicious, and I agree!

Cinnamon Sweet Bread

Dough:

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup warm milk
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom, optional

Topping:

• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Filling:

• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1/4 cup cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar

For Drizzling:

• 1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

To start the dough, whisk together the egg, milk, water, sugar, butter, and yeast in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, sift together 3 1/4 cups of the flour, salt, and cardamom if you are using it, then stir the liquid ingredients in. Knead until a smooth dough forms, adding the remaining quarter cup of flour if needed. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn to coat, then cover the bowl and set somewhere warm to double, about an hour.

Once risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into four parts. Roll each quarter into a circle at least 8″ in diameter.

Line a baking sheet and set aside. Stir together the cinnamon and sugar of the filling. Brush 1/4 of the melted butter over one of the rolled out pieces of dough, and sprinkle 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter. Top with a second piece of dough, and repeat with another 1/4 of the butter and 1/3 of the cinnamon sugar, and again with the third piece of dough. Top with the final piece of dough, and brush with the remaining butter.

Cut the stack of dough circles into eight even pieces, using a sharp knife. In the center of each piece, cut a line that goes through all 4 layers, from about 1/2″ from the point to 1/2″ to the base.

Take the tip of each triangle, fold it back, insert it through the cut, and pull through. As you’re handling each one, move them on to your baking sheet. Pinch together the two outside corners of each triangle.

Brush the dough with the 1/4 cup milk, and sprinkle with sugar. Allow to rest 15 minutes while your oven preheats to 500, or whatever the highest it can reach is.

.Lower the temperature to 460 as you put the pan in. Bake five minutes, then lower further, to 390 degrees. Bake 15-20 more minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let rest 5 minutes. To finish, transfer to a wire rack and drizzle the sweetened condensed milk on top.