Strawberry Jam Spelt Brioche Bread. If you like toast and jam, you are going to absolutely love this! Imagine a soft, mildly sweet, spelt flour brioche bread with a swirl of luscious homemade strawberry jam. Ideal for your breakfast/brunch, snack, and dessert.
Song of the day: "Simply Irresistible" by Robert Palmer.
I don't know about you, but jam is always on my breakfast table. Homemade jam for the most part, whether mine or my dad's, to spread on toasted bread, fetta biscottata, crumpet or English muffin; to top on pancakes or waffles; to fill a cake or crostata. In this case, a delectable homemade strawberry jam creates heavenly swirls of luxurious brioche bread made with spelt flour.
Spelt brioche bread
This recipe is pretty easy and is the one I use regularly. I simply swap ingredients from time to time: honey for sugar, fresh yeast for dry yeast, chocolate spread or jam. Other times, I like to change the shape. With the same recipe I've made, during the years, a chocolate pain brioche, some sweet or savory rolls, and a Christmas wreath.
Not to mention, this recipe is also a keeper because you don't need a stand mixer to make it. In fact, when I'm in Rome and I don't have a stand mixer, I knead the dough by hand for 5-10 minutes until smooth. By all means, kneading dough is so therapeutic!
Let's start
Unlike my other brioche dough recipe, this spelt brioche dough doesn't require to stay overnight in the fridge.
- First rise: shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl (pic. 1). Cover it with a clean cloth and let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature, protected from air draughts. Pictures 2 and 3 show how the dough has risen after 1 hour and after 2 hours.
Time to 'rock-and-roll'
- When the dough has risen, punch it down, then place it onto a floured surface. Quickly knead it a few more seconds, then roll it with a rolling pin trying to get a rectangle of dough about 30×40 cm and 3 mm thick.
- After that, spread a layer of (strawberry) jam, leaving about 2 cm of empty border all around.
Kitchen tip
Use a fairly thick jam and avoid spreading too much jam or the rolling, cutting and braiding will be messy. Always leave a nice border on the dough without jam.
How to braid the brioche dough
- Roll the dough onto itself lengthwise to form a roll, then place it in front of you and with a sharp knife cut the center lengthwise, being careful to start the cut leaving intact the edge farthest from you, so that, when you are finished cutting, the two halves are not completely separated but remain attached to one of the two borders for at least 5 cm.
- Now, braid the two edges without tightening and trying to keep the dough with the jam facing up. After that, gently place the brioche in the prepared loaf pan and let rise for 1 more hour at room temperature, covered with a towel.
- After 1 hour, the brioche bread will be doubled in size, as a result, filling nicely the loaf pan.
Let's bake it!
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Bake the strawberry jam brioche bread for about 25-30 minutes. Watch it while it's baking so it doesn't brown too much. You can put a piece of foil to cover the top. Lastly, leave it in the pan to cool down before unmolding.
Because of the heavenly aroma while baking, you might have to fend off family members wanting to get to the bread as soon as it comes out of the oven.
As a matter of fact, this brioche bread is amazing when still slightly warm. Soft, fragrant, and just mildly sweet, with swirls of jam making it beautiful and more delectable.
So many ways to enjoy this brioche!
All in all, this strawberry jam brioche bread is amazing, so simply slice it and enjoy it as is. In addition, it is delicious toasted and slathered in butter or more jam (my favorite!). You can have it for breakfast, brunch, merenda (the Italian snack), and also, why not, dessert. It keeps well for a few days. Indeed, slice after slice, we finished this Strawberry Jam Spelt Brioche Bread by the second day.
Enjoy!
Strawberry Jam Spelt Brioche Bread
Strawberry Jam Spelt Brioche Bread. If you like toast and jam, you are going to absolutely love this! Imagine a soft, mildly sweet, spelt flour brioche bread with a swirl of luscious homemade strawberry jam. Ideal for your breakfast/brunch, snack, and dessert.
- Prep Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours 50 minutes
- Category: Breakfast, brunch
- Method: Baking
Ingredients
- 300 g spelt flour
- 4 g dry yeast (or 12 g fresh yeast)
- 120 ml milk
- 1 egg
- 40 g butter, soft
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp sugar (or honey)
Instructions
- Dissolve the yeast in the warm milk.
- Put the flour in a large bowl. Make a hole in the middle.
- Pour the yeast mixture into the hole in the center of the flour.
- Add sugar (or honey), salt, egg, butter, and mix everything with your hands.
- Transfer the dough on a work surface and mix vigorously for 5-10 minutes, until it is very smooth and not sticky anymore. (If you don't want to knead by hand, you can use a stand mixer).
- Shape the dough into a ball and place it back in the bowl. Cover it with a clean cloth and let the dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature, protected from air draughts.
- In the meantime, butter a loaf pan.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down, then place it onto a floured surface. Quickly knead it a few more seconds, then roll it with a rolling pin trying to get a rectangle of dough about 30x40 cm and 3 mm thick.
- Once the dough is stretched, spread a thin layer of strawberry jam, leaving about 2 cm of empty border all around.
- Next, roll the dough on itself lengthwise to form a roll, then place it in front of you and with a sharp knife cut the center lengthwise, being careful to start the cut leaving intact the edge farthest from you, so that, when you are finished cutting, the two halves are not completely separated but remain attached to one of the two borders for at least 5 cm.
- Now braid the two edges without tightening and try to keep the dough with the jam facing up.
- Lastly, gently place the brioche in the prepared loaf pan and let rise for 1 more hour at room temperature, covered with a towel.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Bake the strawberry jam brioche bread for about 25-30 minutes, watching while baking so that it doesn't overbake. You can put a piece of foil to cover the top if you see it is browning too much.
- Allow the brioche to cool down in the loaf pan before unmolding.
Notes
You can brush the surface with egg wash and sprinkle coarse sugar before putting it in the oven. I brushed it with milk and avoided adding more sugar.
The brioche bread lasts a few days at room temperature. You can warm it up in the oven, but it's also good cold.
You can use any jam, store-bought or homemade, chunky or smooth, better if not too runny.
I love baking and kneading dough because it takes me to a happy place in my soul.
Colleen says
I agree, hand kneading is so therapeutic! This is a beautiful loaf and with the jam built right in, it will be so delicious. I'm salivating over the thought of a still warm from the oven slice!
Warm from the oven is the best! My family enjoyed it so much. Thank you!
Lisa says
This looks so soft and tender and delicious! I love the braid in in the bread, too and the jam swirls. And yes...while a stand mixer is great, hand kneading is so satisfying to do. 🙂
Yes! It was soft and delicious! I can't wait to make it again. Thank you!
Isabelle @ Crumb says
I love the use of spelt flour in this recipe. It's such an under-appreciated grain, which is a shame because the flavour is simply amazing. I'm always on the lookout for recipes to use up the odds and ends of jam that are kicking around in the fridge, so definitely going to be giving this one a try!
Spelt is such an amazing grain! I highly recommend baking with spelt flour. The jam is everything in this bread 😉 . Thank you!
Milena says
Such a lovely brioche loaf! And the spelt flour takes it over the top flavor wise. I hope you are doing well in Rome, baking therapy is just the thing for these trying times. Hugs!
Hi Milena! Thank you so much! I am back in Edmonton, finally. I am finishing today my two weeks of quarantine. And still baking a lot! 🙂