alluring
When the “nose” of vanilla winds through a butter- and egg-rich yeast dough (in the form of a powerful combination of extract and seed scrapings from the bean), you can just about expect to be enfolded in what I call “the scent of home.”
This phrase is difficult to describe, but, if bottled and let into the air in several trailing wafts, it would be the symbolically aromatic equivalent of sweet baking, pure and simple.
Here is a yeast dough that performs very well, and well it should as it is boosted by whole eggs (four of them) and enough butter to keep the crumb moist and urbane. The surface of the swirly-looking, freshly baked bread gets a final supercharge of melted butter and sugar, sending a message that bread plus butter plus sugar equals an arresting something to slice and serve at a weekend brunch or coffee hour. The bread is special enough to star on its own, but in all likelihood you’ll have it, sliced, alongside good smoky bacon and a golden scramble of eggs. Or with a platter of fresh fruit, roasted nuts, and yogurt. But most of all, the bread is, for me, a stellar model of how well a few elementary baking ingredients, plus one that is eminently floral, translate and compose themselves into an exceedingly light yeast bread dough: it is exactly this synergy of elements that continues to draw me into the baking process, and, yes, it is that alluring.
a very vanilla bread
serving: one 10-inch fluted bread, creating 16 ample slices
ahead: best on baking day; slice and toast up to 3 days thereafter, or freeze for 1 month, defrost, bundle in aluminum foil, and reheat in a preheated 325 degrees F oven for 15 minutes, reserving the butter and sugar finish for after reheating
vanilla-scented yeast dough
41/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup warm (105 to 110 degrees F) water
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size chunks
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
seeds from 2 small vanilla beans, scraped clean
5 cups unsifted bleached all-purpose flour, plus an additional B⁄d cup, for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
butter and sugar finish
about 3 tablespoons butter (preferably clarified butter), melted and still warm
sparkling sugar (plain or a color), vanilla sugar (see notes), or homemade vanilla sugar for sprinkling on the baked bread
For the dough, stir together the yeast, the 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar, and the warm water in a heatproof measuring cup. Allow the mixture to stand until swollen, 6 to 7 minutes.
In the meantime, place the milk and the 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small saucepan and set over moderate heat. When the milk has warmed and the sugar has almost dissolved (about 4 minutes), remove the saucepan from the heat, pour the mixture into a medium-size heatproof mixing bowl, stir in the chunks of butter, and cool to tepid. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean seeds. Blend in the yeast mixture.
Place 4 cups of the flour and the salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk to integrate the salt. Beat in the butter-milk-eggs-yeast mixture, using a wooden spoon or flat wooden paddle. Mix well. The dough will be quite dense, like a stiff batter, at this point. Let the dough stand, uncovered, for 5 minutes, then work in the remaining 1 cup flour. The dough will be moderately moist. Flour a work surface with the additional 1/3 cup of flour. Knead the dough on the work surface for a full 8 minutes, incorporating as much of the flour as necessary to create a smooth and only moderately firm dough (usually, it will take all of the 1/3 cup flour). Even with the knead-in of the additional flour, the dough will still be slightly sticky. The total amount of flour is, of course, dependent on the atmospheric conditions of the day and the age and absorption quality of the flour used.
Turn the dough into a bowl heavily coated with softened unsalted butter, lightly turn to coat all sides in a film of butter, make several cuts in the dough with a pair of kitchen scissors, cover tightly with a sheet of food-safe plastic wrap, and let rise at cool room temperature for 1 hour and 45 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. It is important that the dough rise in a cool atmosphere, unrushed, as the eggs and butter add richness that is temperature-sensitive.
To form the bread, remove and discard the sheet of plastic wrap covering the dough. Compress the dough lightly with your fingertips and let stand for 5 minutes. With your fingertips, form an opening in the center of the ball of dough and let the dough stand for 3 minutes longer.
Film the inside of a 10-inch Bundt pan (41/2 inches deep, with a capacity of 15 cups) with nonstick flour-and-oil spray or softened unsalted butter.
Transfer the dough to the prepared baking pan, fitting the opening over the center rise of the pan. Using your fingertips, lightly pat the dough into an even layer. Cover the pan loosely with a buttered sheet of food-safe plastic wrap. Let the bread rise at cool room temperature for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. It should rise to 3/4 inch under the rim of the pan and crown gently in the middle. Make sure to monitor the dough at this point to achieve the best oven-rise and stability.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F in advance of baking.
Remove and discard the sheet of plastic wrap covering the bread.
Bake the bread in the preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until set and a deep golden brown color on top. Place the pan on a cooling rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Invert the bread onto another cooling rack to stand fluted side up. Lift off the pan. Brush the top of the bread with the melted butter and top with sprinklings of sugar. Serve the bread cut into thick slices.
• the bread dough balloons in the oven, as it has great oven-spring
• if you are using vanilla sugar in the butter and sugar finish, consider using India Tree Vanilla Sugar Turbinado Style (available in 7-ounce jars), for this brand has a delicious flavor and beautiful texture
• the bread is baked in a fluted 10-inch Bundt pan (41/2 inches deep, with a capacity of 15 cups); a plain, one-piece 10-inch tube pan (41/4 to 41/2 inches deep, with a capacity of 18 cups) may be substituted
• use a finely serrated knife to cut the bread
a very vanilla bread