After watching the sweet dough episode of the Great British Bake Off and seeing this delicious couronne again, I decided to give this recipe a try and changed it into a Cinnamon Date Couronne.
A buttery, rich dough – filled with sweet medjool dates, raisins & walnuts – is then rolled, split and twisted to make this gorgeous crown shaped bread.
I substitute the apricots from the original recipe with dates. Because of their natural sweetness I used less sugar for the filling. The dates and the butter in the filling melt together into a gorgeous caramel.
Cinnamon Date Couronne
Cinnamon Date Couronne - A buttery, rich dough - filled with sweet medjool dates, raisins and walnuts is rolled, split and twisted to make this pretty crown-shaped bread.
Ingredients
- For the dough
- 250 g white bread flour plus extra for dusting
- 5 g salt
- 7 g instant yeast
- 50 g unsalted butter softened, plus extra for greasing
- 105 ml milk
- 1 free-range egg lightly beaten
- For the filling
- 90 g unsalted butter softened
- 40 g brown sugar
- 120 g medjool dates chopped and soaked in hot water
- 35 g plain flour
- 60 g raisins
- 65 g chopped walnuts
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- To finish
- 50 g apricot jam
- 200 g icing sugar
Instructions
- Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the butter, milk and egg and mix to combine, using your hands. Keep going until you have a soft dough.
- Place the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and begin to knead. Keep kneading for 10-12 minutes.
- When the dough feels smooth and silky, put it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave to rise for one hour, or until doubled in size.
- While the dough is rising, make the filling. Beat the butter and brown sugar together until smooth. If your dates are a little dry, soak them in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain the dates and add to the butter mixture along with the flour, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
- Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
- Turn the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface. Taking care not to knock the air out of it, roll out the dough into a rectangle, approximately 33x25cm/13x10in. Turn the dough 90 degrees if necessary, so you have a long edge nearest you. Spread the date mixture evenly over the dough. Roll up the dough tightly (like a Swiss roll). Roll it slightly to seal, then cut it in half lengthways.
- Twist the two dough lengths together to make a rope, then join the ends of the rope to form a circular ‘crown’. Transfer to the baking tray.
- Put the tray inside a clean plastic bag and leave to prove for 30-45 minutes, or until the dough springs back quickly if you prod it lightly with your finger. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200C / 400F
- Bake the couronne for 25-35 minutes, or until risen and golden-brown. Set aside to cool on a wire rack.
- Gently heat the apricot jam with a splash of water, then sieve it and brush it over the warm loaf to glaze. Mix the icing sugar with enough water to make a thin icing, drizzle over the loaf.
- Leave to cool before serving.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? I HOPE YOU LOVE IT.
Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #littleswissbaker.
I made this today while watching my little grandson. The only problem is that I didn’t want to cut it, as it turned out so pretty.
It was scrummy!
I’m trying the Chelsea buns this weekend! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Mary, thank you for your comment, I am glad you like it
I made this tonight, and the only changes I made were to leave out the walnuts, since my husband has a thing against nuts in bread, and I did the glaze with fig preserves instead of apricot, because that’s what I had. It turned out absolutely beautiful, with the perfect amount of sweetness and that buttery, tender, melty texture that enriched doughs are known for. Whatever you do, don’t skip the jam glaze–it’s a little thing that makes all the difference in the world!
Sounds lovely