As you may have already guessed, I'm a little obsessed with bread. Okay, maybe more like a lot obsessed. Now that berries are coming in season, that means it's time to make all the sweet fruit bread. Aside from the raspberry lychee rose babka, this roasted blackberry lemon pull apart bread was high on my list of bread baking priorities. Imagine layers of soft bread sandwiched together with roasted blackberries and lemon sugar and finished with a lemon drizzle and that's what you have here. It's delightful.
Recipe
Roasted Blackberry Lemon Pull Apart Bread
Ingredients
Dough
- ¾ cup warm milk, 100-110 degrees F (175 ml)
- 2 teaspoon active dry yeast (7 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (370 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon butter softened at room temperature (42 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 large egg
Filling
- 18 ounces blackberries
- 2 tablespoon honey
- pinch of salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 tablespoon lemon zest
Remaining ingredients
- 2 tablespoon melted butter (28 grams)
- egg wash 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
- ½ cup powdered sugar (65 grams)
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Make the dough. Combine the warm milk with yeast and let sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture is foamy and the yeast is activated.
- Combine the yeast mixture with the remaining dough ingredients including sugar, flour, salt, butter, vanilla, and egg. Mix the ingredients until a dough forms and continue to knead for 6-7 minutes or until smooth. Transfer the dough to a bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a half baking sheet with parchment paper.
- While the dough is proofing, roast the blackberries. Toss the berries with honey and a pinch of salt. Spread the berries in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Roast the fruit for 20 minutes or until softened. Remove from the oven and transfer the berries to a bowl. Lightly smash them to release the juices and let them cool completely.
- Combine ½ cup sugar with 2 tablespoon lemon zest until well combined. Set aside.
- Punch down the dough. Dust a clean work counter with flour and roll out the dough into a 15x12 inch rectangle. Brush the top of the dough with 2 tablespoon melted butter. Sprinkle the lemon sugar on top and spread the roasted blackberries in an even layer. Cut the dough into 15 squares, 4x3 inches each. Stack the squares on top of another. Flip the last square so that the side with the filling is facing down.
- Grease a 9x5 loaf pan. Carefully transfer the squares to the pan. Cover the bread and proof for 30 minutes in a warm area.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Brush the top of the loaf with egg wash. Bake the roasted blackberry lemon pull apart bread for 50 minutes - 1 hour or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
- While the bread is cooling, make the lemon glaze. Beat together the powdered sugar with lemon juice until well combined. Drizzle the lemon glaze on top and serve.
**Helpful tips and common mistakes
Like many other breads, this roasted blackberry lemon pull apart bread takes time and effort. But, like many other breads, it's worth every minute.
To make the bread, start by making the dough. This is an enriched dough, made with milk, butter, and an egg to yield a soft dough. You can tell just by how dough feels that it's going to be soft.
Place the dough in a warm area and proof until it's doubled in size. If your kitchen is particularly chilly, this could take longer than 1 hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Toss the blackberries with honey and a pinch of salt and roast them until they've softened. Lightly mash the berries to release the juices and let them cool completely.
Rub together the lemon zest with sugar to release the citrus oils and mix them together. Go ahead and give it a smell. Smells divine, right?
By now your dough should be ready. Punch down the dough and roll it out to a large rectangle about 15x12 inches. Spread on the melted butter, lemon sugar, and roasted berries in an even layer. Then, cut the dough into 4x3 inch squares for a total of 15 squares.
Now comes the tricky part, transferring the dough to the loaf pan. I found the easiest way was to stand the loaf pan on its side and carefully scoop the dough into the pan. Alternatively, you can stack the dough one by one into the loaf pan.
Cover the loaf pan and let it proof a second time for 30 minutes.
And now it's finally time to bake the bread! Normally you don't insert a toothpick for bread but it can actually be helpful in this instance. When a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, it should be done.
Let the bread cool completely, then drizzle on that lovely lemon icing.
Now comes the fun part, eating the pull apart bread! Pull apart those layers and bite into that blackberry-filled, lemon-scented bread. Delicious!
For more sweet bread inspiration check out this raspberry lychee rose babka!
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