HARVARD APPLE SCROLL

T-21 days!

I am overwhelmed with recipes to try! How do I choose? How do I justify these carbs?

Well, Countdown to Christmas is an undisputable, across the American board agreement that we are all, as a united nation, supposed to be extra fluffy during the holiday season.   And because  I am devoted to this agreement, I want to share my carb obsession -- baking BREAD!

Recently I have been trying to perfect just regular  (and never knew could be so delicious) white bread.  But, today I thought I would take a break from the reasonable excuse to bake and get a little fancy and add some holiday flare to my bread: Harvard Scroll Bread.  This bread is fancy, adorable, and drop dead delectable.  

The recipe below is my spin on a recipe I found in  A Yankee Christmas.  The recipe given can be divided in half, it is up to you if you want a larger loaf or two smaller ones.  Either way, the bread comes out finger-licking good and in the words of my husband is "the best thing you have ever baked."  Hope you try this out and enjoy. 

HARVARD APPLE SCROLL

Ingredients

Bread:

   1/3  cup milk

   1/3 cup sugar

   2 large eggs

   3 tablespoons unsalted, softened butter

   1 teaspoon salt

   1 Package Active Dry Yeast

   1/3 cup warm water (about 115 degrees F)

   1/2  cup apple cider (Optional)

   1 tablespoon cinnamon

   1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

   3-4 Cups Flour

Filling:

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/2 Cup Sugar

3 Teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 Teaspoon nutmeg

1 Teaspoon Cloves

1-2 large tart cooking apples. ( I used Gala and they tasted great!)

To make the bread:

 In a heavy-bottomed 1-quart saucepan, scald the milk.  Stir in the sugar, butter, and salt. Cool to lukewarm.

Place the water in your mixing bowl and activate the yeast.  

Add the milk mixture, eggs and apple cider to the yeast/mixing bowl. Stir until just combined. 

Stir in 1/2 of the flour and place on speed 2 on electrical mixer until smooth.  Add enough of the remaining flour until you have a nice, soft, but kneadable dough.  If you have an electrical mixer, go ahead and let the mixer knead the dough until it becomes elastic.  If you don't have a mixer, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic - about 10 minutes.

Butter a large bowl and put in the dough, turning it to coat all sides. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until dough has doubled in bulk - about 1 hour. 

 ( TIP- a great place to store the dough is in the oven where it will not catch a draft!) 

Once the dough has risen, punch it down on a lightly flowered surface.

Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into an 8" X 12" rectangle. 

(Dividing the dough is up to you.)

To Make the Filling:

Brush the pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the butter.

In a small bowl, mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  Sprinkle each piece of dough with 1/3 of the mixture (this is to your discretion...I like a lot of cinnamon loveliness so I added more.)

Form each piece into a scroll by tightly rolling up the 8" edges to meet in the center.

Make 7 slashes (an inch or so apart) in each half of the scrolls, going about halfway into the dough. 

(This is the crucial step where if you want a prettier bread and the apples to be covered you need to use the entire dough amount for one loaf.)  

Butter two 9"x5" loaf pans.  Add the dough, cut sides facing up.

Pare and core the apples.  Cut each into 14 slices.  Press the slices, thin edges down, into the slashes.  Brush the loaves lightly with the remaining tablespoon of butter.  Sprinkle the tops with the remaining spice mixture.

Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.  

Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned and the sides begin to pull way from the pans.  Gently remove it from the pan and place it on cooling rack.  

You can serve it warm for breakfast or with tea. 

(l love it as a midnight snack!)  

CHEERS!