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Recipe

Cinnamon, Date and Pecan Swirl Loaf

current situation: two loaves

The whole thing is the spiral, and the spiral is lost by almost everybody for the same two reasons.

First, the filling has to be a paste, not loose sugar. Dry cinnamon sugar melts in the oven into a layer of syrup, the dough slides apart on it, and you open the loaf to find a cave. Butter creamed into the sugar first makes a paste that stays put.

Second, roll it tight and seal every turn. Any air trapped between the layers expands in the oven and separates them.

Dates and pecans in the filling make it a different loaf from the usual — sticky and dark against the white crumb.

Makes
Two loaves
Hands-on
45 minutes
Rise
2 1/2 hours
Filling
A paste, not loose sugar

Four hours, and it makes two, which is the right number because one goes immediately.

Cinnamon swirl loaf cut open to show the spiralCinnamon, date and walnut filling spread on the rolled doughTwo slices of the date and walnut swirl loaf, buttered
Shot the night it was made. Open any picture for the full photograph.

What you need

The dough

  • 5 cups bread flour
  • 1 1/2 cups warm whole milk
  • 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 6 tbsp soft butter
  • 2 eggs

The filling paste

  • 6 tbsp soft butter
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp flour — it stops the paste running
  • A pinch of salt

Through the swirl

  • 1 1/2 cups dates, chopped
  • 1 cup pecans, chopped
  • 1 egg, beaten, for the wash

How it goes

  1. 1 — Enriched dough, kneaded eight minutes

    Milk, yeast, sugar, then flour, salt, eggs and soft butter. Kneaded until smooth and slightly tacky. It is a soft dough and it should be.

  2. 2 — First rise until doubled

    Ninety minutes somewhere warm, covered.

  3. 3 — Cream the filling into a paste

    Soft butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and salt beaten together until it is spreadable. This is the step that saves the swirl and nobody does it.

  4. 4 — Roll out, spread to within an inch of the edges

    Each half rolled into a rectangle about the width of your tin. Paste spread evenly but kept back from the far edge so it does not squeeze out as you roll.

  5. 5 — Dates and pecans pressed in, not just scattered

    Sprinkled over the paste and then pressed down with your palm. Loose pieces push the layers apart as you roll.

  6. 6 — Roll tight, sealing as you go

    From the short edge, rolling firmly and pressing the seam against the dough after every turn. Pinch the final seam closed and tuck the ends under.

    pro tip — If you can see a gap in the end of the roll before it even bakes, unroll it and start again. It will only get bigger.

  7. 7 — Second rise, then egg wash

    Seam down in buttered tins, risen until it crowns the rim by an inch, about an hour. Brushed with beaten egg for the gloss.

  8. 8 — 350°F for 40 minutes, tented at 25

    Foil over the top once it is golden so the sugar does not burn before the middle is cooked. A skewer should come out clean of dough.

  9. 9 — Cool fully before cutting across

    The swirl is set by the cooling. Cut hot, the paste is still liquid and it drags into a smear.

Two loaves. One of them does not make it to the second day. LFG.

More of what comes out of this kitchen on the food wall.

Every picture on this page is one of mine. I paint for a living the rest of the time — that is the gallery, and the originals are for sale.