Danish Raisin Bread

This is courtesy of Ting Liu in preparation for her bread workshop. This recipe is adapted from Emily Liu's post.

Ingredients

Active dry yeast - 2 tsp
Milk - 1 and 1/2 cup

Bread flour - 4 cups
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Unsalted butter - 6 TBSP (4 TBSP melted for the dough, 2 TBSP for topping)

Raisin - 1/3 cup for filling
Egg - 1 for egg glaze - beat 1 egg with a pinch of salt(Optional)
Sliced almond - 2 TBSP for sprinkle on top

Yield: 1 Loaf

Steps

1. In a measuring cup, sprinkle yeast into 1 cup of  lukewarm water, add 1 tsp of sugar, stir and leave it for 5 minutes until the surface is foamy.

2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, salt together, make a well in the center and pour in the yeast solution and 1/2 cup milk.

3. Add melted butter, use a wooden spoon to mix all ingredients together.

4. Transfer the dough to a floured surface to knead. With the heel of your hands, knead the dough for 10 minutes until the dough is firm to the touch, elastic, and has a smooth surface. Add a little flour at a time if dough is too sticky after kneading. (The kneading and rising of the dough can be done with a bread machine. Set it to "dough only setting", add wet ingredients first, then add dry ingredients).

5. Place the kneaded dough in a large lightly oiled bowl. Do not use metal bowl. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let it rise until doubled in size. (in warm weather, it takes about 1 1/2 hours. In order to make the dough rise faster, you can turn on the oven to 170F for a few minutes or so then turn if off, place the dough container in the warm oven)

6. To ensure the rising is complete, test the dough by gently pressing with a fingertip. The dent should spring back gradually, not at once. Punch down the dough with your fist, shape it into a long piece, wrap it in food wrap, let it stand for 10 minutes.

7. Unwrap it, roll it thin with a rolling pin, spread raisin on top of the dough.

7. Fold half of the dough over the raisins to cover the other half, press down along the edge to seal. Cut slots on the top layer of the dough. Transfer the dough into a greased baking pan.

8. Proof the shaped dough in a warmed-up oven for 30 to 40 minutes until the dough is 1.5 of the original size (Turn on the oven for a few minutes, then turn off.). Leave the dough uncovered, and place a pan of hot water on the bottom of the oven. (Do not let it rise for too long, otherwise the risen dough will collapse as soon as it is taken out of the oven)

9. Brush the egg glaze over the surface of the dough (it works as adhesive for other toppings). If you want egg free, just brush a layer of butter.
10. Cut 2 tbsp of butter into small cubes, roll them in flour to coat, sprinkle butter cubes and sliced almond over the surface of the dough. Finally, sprinkle small amount of granulated sugar on top.

11. Preheat oven to 325°F.

12. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from baking pan and cool on rack.