Ginger twist

I’ve asked my readers over at the blog’s Facebook page if they like to cook and bake on weekends and what they like to make – I love being in the kitchen on weekends because it is when I have more time and get to make more complex things, recipes that take a while to be ready or/and have many steps, such as this ginger twist.

Spending a lot of time in the kitchen can be frustrating if the results aren’t what we expect – and trust me, I’ve been there many times – but in this recipe’s case every bit of work and every second were worth it: the bread looked beautiful and tasted amazing, too.

It is a bit time consuming, I won’t lie, but I recommend you bookmark it for a cold, rainy day when you’re not at all interested in going out – just imagine that after all the work you’ll have something this delicious to go with a cup of tea or coffee. :D

Ginger twist
slightly adapted from the always amazing Gourmet Traveller

Dough:
140ml lukewarm whole milk
2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast
120g granulated sugar
400g all purpose flour
50g whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
finely grated zest + juice of 1 orange
2 eggs, room temperature
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg, extra, for brushing the loaf

Filling:
70g unsalted butter, softened
50g brown sugar
50g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger
130g pecans, chopped
100g almonds, chopped

Topping:
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter, cold

Dough: stir milk, yeast and a pinch of the sugar in a small bowl to dissolve and stand until foamy (5 minutes). Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients and zest with a pinch of salt in an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add yeast mixture, 2 eggs and orange juice, then mix on medium speed to form a soft dough. Gradually add butter, beating on medium speed to form a soft dough, then transfer to a buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1 hour).

Filling: mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate until needed. Set aside 30g of the filling for the topping.

Knock back dough on a well-floured surface, roll out to a 30x60cm (12x24in) rectangle and spread evenly with filling. Roll from the longest side to form a cylinder, then cut in half. Twist each half around one another to form a rope and place in a buttered 12x25cm (5x10in) loaf tin. Stand until slightly risen (30 minutes) – in the meantime, preheat oven to 180°C.

Using your fingertips, mix the 30g reserved filling with the topping ingredients until a crumble forms. Refrigerate until needed.

Beat the extra egg with a pinch of salt and brush loaf with the mixture. Scatter with the topping and bake until golden and risen (45 minutes to 1 hour). Cover with foil if loaf gets too dark. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then carefully unmold onto a rack to cool.

Serves 8-10