Rosemary Currant Bread

One of the restaurants I miss the most in SoCal is a little French inspired cafe in San Marino.  Julienne has the best hot chocolate I’ve had in the States and is my favorite place to go out for breakfast.  My mom have been going there for 10 years.  We know the staff and the staff know us.  Herbert always remembers to fill my empty mug with coffee after I finish my hot chocolate.  He also knows we like an order of their rosemary toast to tide us over before our food comes.

I was so disappointed that their rosemary currant bread wasn’t in Julienne’s cookbook. (The Graham Chewy Bars are well worth the price of the cookbook).  I wanted to replicate those perfectly toasted pieces of chewy bread, speckled with sweet currants and rosemary.

When Farmgirl Fare (check out her beer bread recipe – amazing!) had a recipe for Rosemary Raisin Bread, I hoped that with a few tweaks, it would turn out like Julienne’s.

It did! And, my mom happened to be visiting when I tried it.  She approves. As does my husband, who is also a huge Julienne fan.

I chose dried currants instead of raisins 1. because that’s what Julienne’s bread has, and 2. currants are smaller, less plump, and give an intense burst of flavor.

Call me a lazy baker, but I adapted the original recipe for my bread maker.  If you want to make it the old fashioned way, just use the ingredients listed in my recipe and follow the instructions given by Farmgirl (linked above).

Rosemary Currant Bread

1/2 cup warm milk

4 large eggs, beaten

4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 ¾ cups bread flour (1 lb, 2¾ oz – 533 g)

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 Tablespoon dried rosemary

1½ teaspoons salt

1 cup dried currants

Add the ingredients, except dried currants, to your bread machine in the order listed: wet first, then dry.

Adjust bread machine setting for a “large light” loaf.  If the dough begins to knock hard against the pan, add a tablespoon more milk.

The large-light setting should give you time, about 20 minutes in, to add additional ingredients.  (Mine beeps when it’s time to add the mix-ins).  Add dried currants.

This is a LARGE loaf.  I was a bit concerned the first time I made it because the dough pressed against the top of the sneak-peek window of my machine while baking.  No need to worry; it bakes up perfectly.

I love this bread warm so I take it out of the pan immediately.  Slice and slather with butter. It’s also delicious toasted with jam or as the vehicle for any sandwich fixings.