Distinctively Connecticut
Born in 1897, Margaret Fogarty was not a country girl. She grew up in New York and on Long Island, graduated at the top of her high school class, and worked in Manhattan as bookkeeper for a brokerage.
Our adaptation of Pepperidge Farms’ classic raisin-cinnamon bread brings to mind our childhood breakfast tables and the hardworking women who didn’t want us to face the day without a full belly.
Ingredients
SERVINGS: 2 Loaf(s)
Dough
- ⅓ cup warm water
- 2 packages (4½ teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, gently beaten
- 6 tablespoons butter, softened, plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
- 2 cups stone-ground wheat flour
- 4 cups unbleached all-purpose white flour
- 1 cup raisins
Swirl
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon
- ½ cup sugar
Preparation
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in milk, ½ cup sugar, eggs, and 6 tablespoons butter. Add wheat flour and ~2 cups white flour to wet dough, then mix. Add raisins and additional flour until the dough comes away from the bowl and can be turned onto a floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1½ hours, until doubled in size.
While bread is rising, combine cinnamon and ½ cup sugar and divide into two equal portions, then set aside. Grease two 9x5” bread pans. Punch down risen dough and divide in half. Roll out each piece to a rectangle of about 18x8”. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over these, leaving a clean border of a ½ inch. Roll the dough from the short side and pinch the seams. Place seam-side down in the bread pans; cover and let rise for at least an hour.
Cooking
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter, then use to brush the top of each loaf. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.
More from our winter issue!
In Our Winter 2019 Issue
When we are preparing our slate of stories for a given issue, we act with intention. We endeavor to cover a broad range of food and sustainability topics and to select stories that offer coverage of a...
