Cinnamon Swirl Bread

One of my absolute favorites is cinnamon swirl bread. When I bake a loaf I just might eat nearly the entire thing! The bread is redolent in fragrant cinnamon sweetened lightly with sugar and scented with orange zest. So lovely. This recipe, from Dorie Greenspan, called for cocoa in the cinnamon mix that I hesitated on adding but I am glad I did because the small amount only enriched what is already a delectable treat.

As a child, yeast breads were not generally homemade - I grew up in the convenience generation and really -why not - women were being liberated from the shackles of confining gender roles! There was a brief period where my mother made homemade bread out of necessity due to a job layoff and even though, they were stressful times I cherish those memories of the togetherness, the breads and big pot meals that had to last a week. I can still see my mom needing the dough and feeling the amazement of the risen dough, and my dad making his big pots of soup.  We may not have had all the things we needed but we had each other.   In some ways it reminds me of today's economic clime, where there is so much uncertainty, and cutting back is the name of the day. I feel a stronger sense of togetherness and have a firm belief that no matter what comes our way we will make it through. Even with my own sense of determination I realize that so many families are facing economic uncertainty and that suffering is plain suffering and that can dash any firm sense of "we shall overcome" attitude. I hope for those who are suffering that they take each day as it comes and may their dreams be laced with the fragrant scent of better times ahead.

My favorite way to eat the cinnamon swirl bread -toasted!

recipe