Dutch Sweet Bread - Fries Suikerbrood
This sweet bread is also known as Frisian Sugar Bread, named after the Friesland (or Frisia) region in Holland, where it's so popular. I thought the idea of nib sugar and cinnamon filling was brilliant, so I didn't hesitate at all and tried it.
The big advantage of the Dutch sweet bread is that it's a lot easier to make than the Romanian one. Lumps of sugar melt and form little pockets filled with flavourful and delicious caramel. The dough has a somewhat simpler texture, similar to bread texture - probably this is why it's called 'sugar bread'.
As I said, I thought it was a great idea to use lumps of sugar as filling. For an enhanced taste, I recommend brown sugar cubes. They are my favourites and I always have them in my kitchen.
Combine warm milk, 1 tbsp sugar and dried yeast in a large bowl.
Let stand for 10 minutes until the yeast is frothy.
After that, add vanilla extract, salt and 1 egg.
Then the softened butter, mix to combine with a spoon or a spatula.
Finally, mix the flour in.
Stir, at first with a spatula or a spoon, until the dough starts to come together.
Turn the dough out onto the work space and knead until smooth, soft and not sticky anymore.
Return dough to the bowl, cover with a towel and let rise for about 1 hour at room temperature.
Meanwhile, I suggest preparing the filling - crush the brown sugar cubes with a knife or a hammer (in which case wrap them in a towel).
Add 1 tbsp cinnamon and mix.
After the dough has risen, remove from the bowl and cut into 2 equal parts - for 2 smaller sugar breads.
If you have a large baking pan, don't cut and make a single loaf.
Roll out with your hands each piece of dough into a 25x30cm rectangle. Use also the lenght of the baking sheet as a reference point.
Sprinkle with the crushed sugar and cinnamon mixture, as much as you can.
Roll the sheet up into a sweet bread loaf.
Place the loaf into the parchment lined dish.
Repeat the procedure with the second loaf. Reserve some sugar cubes for a garnish. At the end, spread the sugar cubes over the top, you can have less than you see in the pictures.
Let rise for about 40-50 minutes at room temperature or until doubled in size.
After that, brush with eggwash. I tried brushing with milk, but I didn't like it.
The milk made the crust drier after baking and the sweet breads took longer to bake.
Bake in the preheated oven at180 degrees C for about 45 minutes or until they brown nicely.
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the dish for 30 minutes.
After that, carefully pull the parchment to lift out the sugar breads onto a cutting board or a platter.
Cover with a towel and let cool completely for about 3-4 hours.
After that, you can serve the sugar bread with great pleasure.
Enjoy!
