English Saffron Bread

Directions

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. 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. 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. 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. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
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.

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Reviews (19)

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45

JAKE123

May. 19, 2003

"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 mu..." See morech better to just take a normal white bread rescipe and add saffron. What was probably used in this was safflower, not saffron. There's a big difference"

31

THEFEY

Oct. 17, 2003

"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 ..." See moreyou use, the brighter the colour; howevere saffron - real saffron, not the ghastly powdered food colouring called saffron yellow is EXPENSIVE! I use about 1 teaspoon in my saffron buns. SOme recipes include dried fruit and others are a basic sweetish white bread with saffron added. The recipe would never include safflower in either its seed OR oil form!"

22

KEZ

Feb. 12, 2006

"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 shap..." See moreed into rolls. Cooked for about 45 minutes. My dad is Cornish throgh and through and hasn't had homemade saffron buns for years he gave this the five stars and went home with six for later. Thanks."