An incredible presentation of a soft yeasted milk dough, rich in flavour filled with buttery orange filling and drizzled with a delectable raspberry sauce; Orange raspberry heart bread will be your favourite- go-to yeasted dessert once you give it a try!
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An interesting thing about bread dough is it has character, a lot of character. When I compare my early bread-making endeavours before I grasped a couple of tips and observations I’ve realized I was always on the right track but always failed short.
I had all the ingredients measured right, but my mixing most often than not broke and rendered unsatisfactory. I finally realized It was mostly under-kneading, which is why it is important to note that if you under knead this milk bread dough, you will end up with somewhat dense bread a desired outcome for cinnamon rolls maybe, but not for this bread. On the other hand, though rare, overmixing bread dough will lead to tough, dry bread. You want to find the winning point for gluten milk bread, not underkneaded or overkneaded. So how do you know?
When to Stop Kneading Milk Dough
One way of knowing is by following a recipe, but this can sometimes be problematic without all factors considered. This is observed, especially in instances where you’re kneading by hand and the recipe kneads with a stand mixer and vice versa, For this recipe, I kneaded for 20 minutes with my stand mixer which should work great if you use the ingredient ratios. But what if you are kneading by hand, or maybe you added the batter too early in the mixing, how do you know when to stop kneading?
The best way of knowing when to stop kneading bread dough is by gently pressing with a finger. If it springs back when pressed then it is ready but if the finger poke indentation stays without springing back then you need to work the dough some more.
Another way of knowing is by taking a small part of the dough and stretching it between your fingers; kind of like you would gum or rubber band. If it tears or breaks easily then it’s not ready. It should be ready when stretched it stretches easily and may form a clear thin sheet in the middle kind of like a windowpane. ( no stretched bread dough pictures today but I promise to upload some soon).
Recipe Run through
Make the milk bread dough. Add all the wet ingredients to a stand mixer bowl, followed by the dry ingredients. Knead for 10 minutes, add butter then knead for 9-10 minutes.You can choose to make the dough and refrigerate it overnight before rolling it; this will be easier since the dough is pretty soft but you can also make it the day of baking, proof it for a few hours then roll it on a generously floured surface.
Proofing. Transfer the milk dough into a bowl, (greased with oil) then cover it with cling film. Keep refrigerated overnight or at room temperature for about one hour until it triples in volume.
Roll and bake. Roll the milk dough on a generously floured surface, and spread with a mixture of butter, orange zest and sugar. Fold the sheet in half, and cut using a pizza cutter to make small dough triangles( see pictures). Roll the triangles starting from the broad base towards the tips. Place the rolls into a heart-shaped baking pan; I used two 8-inch heart-shaped baking pans. Cover with a towel and let sit for 20 minutes. Afterwards, brush with egg whites then bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Make the Raspberry Ganache. In a small pan, add raspberries, orange juice, orange zest and a bit of sugar. Cook until thick for 3-5 minutes stirring constantly. Pour hot cooked raspberry over finely chopped white chocolate then followed with hot heavy cream. Stir until all the chocolate melts. Drizzle over the orange heart bread.
Recipe Notes
Instant yeast verse active dry yeast. For this recipe, I used instant yeast powder which is why I did not activate it with warm liquid; if you are using active dry yeast, mix it with warm milk and let it sit for 10 minutes before mixing with the other ingredients.
Oranges with very orange peels have more flavour.
The milk dough is pretty soft so it’s best to refrigerate it overnight and work it the next day when it’s still cold. However, you can also use it the same day you’ve made it by rolling it on a generously floured surface.
Similar Recipes from the blog
- Orange Chocolate Cupcakes
- Nutella stuffed milk buns
- Cinnamon roll heart bread
- Orange Chocolate sandwich cookies
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Stand Mixer
Heart pan
Spreading knife
Weighing Scale
ORANGE RASPBERRY HEART BREAD
Course: DessertDifficulty: Medium6
servings30
minutes1
hr30
minutesIngredients
500 gm all-purpose flour
270 ml milk
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
100 gm granulated sugar
80 gm butter
20 gm instant yeast
1 egg (for egg wash )
- Orange Filling
4 tsp orange zest
70 gm granulated sugar
150 gm butter
- Raspberry Ganache
100 gm fresh raspberries
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tsp orange zest
100 gm white chocolate
180 ml heavy whipping cream ( dairy free )
Directions
- Add all wet ingredients to a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, followed by the dry ingredients. Start kneading on medium speed for up to 10 minutes. Afterwards, add the butter and knead for another 9-10 minutes.
- Transfer the dough into a bowl, greased with oil then cover with cling film. Let it sit until almost triple in volume( 1-3 hours) or keep it refrigerated overnight and roll it the next day.
- In the meantime make the orange filling. Mix sugar, butter and orange zest into a paste; using a spatula.
- When the dough is ready, roll it thin on a floured surface to make a big rectangle. spread with the orange filling then fold in half.
- Using a pizza cutter, cut horizontally in half( you will have two long rectangles; refer to pictures) . Then using a pizza cutter or sharp knife cut very small triangles like you would croissants. Fold starting from the wider base towards the sharp tips.( Refer to the pictures above; in the recipe run through section)
- Layer the rolled sections into a heart-shaped 8-inch pan; I used two pans for this recipe.
Cover with a kitchen towel and let it sit for 20 minutes. Afterwards, brush with egg and bake in a preheated oven for up to 30 minutes or until golden brown at the top. - Raspberry Ganache
- Add fresh raspberries, a tablespoon of sugar, orange zest and juice into a small pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until it cooks to a jam-like consistency. ( up to 5 minutes)
- Immediately pour the hot raspberry jam over finely chopped chocolate. Then, immediately heat heavy whipping cream to a simmer and pour over the raspberry-chocolate mixture.
- Stir until the chocolate completely dissolves.
Note; if the chocolate does not completely dissolve, place the mixture over a pot with hot water so that the steam melts the chocolate. - Serve and enjoy with the orange heart shaped bread.
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