Brown Sugar and Plum Pull-Apart Bread

June 13, 2016

Pull-apart bread layers with plums, brown sugar, and cardamom, baked with einkorn flour. Tips for baking with einkorn flour included!

This month’s theme for our #BreadBakers group is stone fruit! Thank you Mireille of The Schizo Chef for suggesting this wonderful theme, and huge thanks for hosting us this month!

Plums, apricots, mangos, peaches, and nectarines – all fair game. Seriously, who can resist bread studded with summer fruit? I decided on plums before I even knew what I wanted to bake. And I knew I’d be using all-purpose einkorn flour. The good folks at Einkorn recently sent me 5 pounds each of their all-purpose and whole wheat flours, and I was anxious to dig into the bags.

First, I dashed off to Pinterest to get some inspiration. I have a Pinterest Board just for Breads where I save anything that catches my eye, and pondered some simple scones for a time. But nothing really popped out to me as I scanned all the photos. And then I spotted some pull-apart breads. Pull-apart bread has been on my bread list forever, and I was way overdue to make one.

You might be wondering “Why einkorn flour?” I’ve been baking with it for a few months now, so we’re way past our first date and early flirtation. We’re solidly in a serious relationship. It’s the original wheat farmed by humans 10,000 years ago, and very different from today’s ubiquitous hybridized version. It’s pale yellow color is the first thing that tips you off that this flour might be different, but what’s not visible is all the nutrients and the higher load of protein it carries. Go here for more information on its health benefits.

If you don’t see it in your store, here’s where you can buy the kind I use online (affiliate link)! Just click on the photo below.

Einkorn Tips:

Einkorn flour bakes up differently, especially in yeasted doughs. Here are some rules:

Rule #1: Einkorn flour doesn’t absorb liquids as easily, so you either need to plan ahead and let the dough sit for a few hours (or overnight) or cut back on liquids. You could keep adding flour until you have the right consistency, and I have, but you’ll end up with a denser bread. If you’re working with a recipe developed for standard all-purpose flour, reduce liquids by roughly 30%.

Rule #2: Dough made with einkorn flour doesn’t rise as much, so don’t wait until the dough has doubled in size. Instead, I recommend the finger test. When you reach the amount of time you would normally wait with all-purpose flour, press the dough gently with your index finger. It should be flexible enough to spring back.

Rule #3: Standing mixers are not your best friend with einkorn dough. Normally long kneading times are preferred with all-purpose flour to develop the gluten, but einkorn flour has weaker gluten since it’s the non-hybrid version of wheat flour, so a long kneading doesn’t gain anything except a tougher dough. Better instead to knead by hand only until the dough is smooth.

Rule #4: Einkorn dough can bake into a denser bread, so I add 1 egg white to the dough. If the dough recipe already calls for eggs, I still add the extra egg white.

Rule #5: With all-purpose flour, I use a guideline of 4.5 ounces for 1 cup (and yes, I always weigh my flour). This is a little much for einkorn flour, and the recommendation I got from my good friend, master baker Jane Bonacci from The Heritage Cook, was to use 120 grams as 1 cup measurement. Her recommendation was spot on. She’s got a cookbook coming out next month with Shannon Kinsella on baking gluten-free, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Click on the image to check it out, and reserve a copy!

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5 from 5 votes