English Saffron Bread

Recipe By GODGIFU
Rating
Published Mar 5th
Prep 1h 30m Cook 1m Additional 59m Ready In 2h 30m
Servings 1 loaf Calories 368.2

The exotic scents of saffron and lemon will fill your kitchen when you bake this beautiful braided bread.

Recipe Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 1 cup butter
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons saffron
  • ½ cup hot water
  • 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour

Cooking Directions

  1. 1 Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat; add butter, sugar and stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm. In a small bowl, soak the saffron in the hot water, let cool until lukewarm, drain and reserve the liquid.
  2. 2 In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk mixture with the reserved saffron water and eggs. Add the yeast and stir to dissolve. Add the salt, nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon zest and 4 cups of the flour; mix well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
  3. 3 Lightly oil a large mixing, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
  4. 4 Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal pieces, form into 14 inch long 'ropes'. Braid the 'ropes' together and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.
  5. 5 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  6. 6 Bake at 350 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes or until golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Remove to a wire rack and cool.

Nutrition Facts

  • Calories 368.2
  • Carbohydrate 53.4 g
  • Cholesterol 59.3 mg
  • Fat 14 g
  • Fiber 1.7 g
  • Protein 7.3 g
  • Saturated Fat 8.4 g
  • Sodium 418.5 mg
  • Sugar 14.7 g

Reviews

  1. dmlitblb May 29, 2008 01:52 PM
    Just a few notes on this recipe: 1. Cube the butter before you put it in the milk the milk isn't quite hot enough to melt two whole sticks. 2. For efficiencies sake I'd soak the saffron in the water before starting the milk then you're working on that while the water cools. 3. I - Read more ...
  2. Gill Ian Mar 4, 2008 02:04 AM
    incredible bread...wow very impressive will DEFINITELY make again! Made a very large loaf.
  3. Searching_for_perfection Dec 24, 2007 10:44 AM
    I haven't given this five stars as I felt the quantity of flour was slightly out (I needed to add in a good deal more than the recipe called for) and it would have been good to know how enormous the 'loaf' would have been so I could scale down a bit! Having said that - Read more ...
  4. MASSIVEMO1 Jun 5, 2006 04:36 PM
    a very nice flavor and texture when fresh baked but it dried out very quickly. making very small loaves of this might be better.
  5. KEZ Feb 12, 2006 02:28 PM
    I knew what I wanted from this recipe the saffron buns of my childhood so I played with it a little bit. I only used 1 teaspoon of saffron added a cup and a half of dried fruit with the flour and shaped into rolls. Cooked for about 45 minutes. My dad is Cornish throgh - Read more ...
  6. Angelique Juneau Jun 26, 2005 03:31 PM
    This bread was huge and hardly fit in my oven but my guests adored its slightly sweet flavor. The flavors in this bread are subtle and it is perfect to serve before or even during dinner. My guests loved this so much they asked to take pieces home with them.
  7. CRYSTAL075 Mar 13, 2005 04:46 PM
    Excellent! The saffromn combined with the cinnamon nutmeg and zest is an amazing coombination. (being from Jamaica we love our nutmeg). The yeastiness sweeteness and texture of this bread is the best. You have not lived until you've had this one!
  8. THEFEY Oct 18, 2003 05:11 AM
    The aroma of this bread is beautiful. It is a traditional Cornish recipe for a bread/buns baked at Christmas. Cornwall used to grow masses of Crocus for the stamens that are saffron. The more saffron you use, the brighter the colour; howevere saffron - real saffron, not the ghastly powdered food colouring called saffron yellow - Read more ...
  9. JAKE123 May 19, 2003 09:19 AM
    There's a problem with the rescipe. Using that much saffron would be a mistake. 1/36 to 1/4 teaspoon would be more advisable. Also the cinnamon & nutmeg should be left out entirely. It would be much better to just take a normal white bread rescipe and add saffron. What was probably used in this was - Read more ...
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