February Recipe to Try: Grapefruit Pull-Apart Bread

In honor of grapefruit season, food photographer and Town Dish contributor Alexandra Whitney Photography shares her recipe for grapefruit-infused pull-apart bread. Perfect for brunch gatherings and cozy winter affairs, this sweet bread may become your next best recipe. An addictive sugar-laced crust sprinkled with grapefruit zest and an ultra-fluffy, grapefruit juice-spiked doughy interior had us reaching for more than one slice. Warning: it’s so crowd-pleasing that you may want to make two loaves.

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
• 2 ounces butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
• 2 large eggs

For the Filling

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grapefruit zest
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, sugar, yeast and salt and set aside.
2. Whisk together eggs and set aside.
3. In a small saucepan, melt milk and butter until butter is melted, then remove from heat. When cooled slightly, add in grapefruit juice.
4. Mix the butter and milk mixture into the dry ingredients, then add in eggs and stir until incorporated into batter. The mixture will be a bit soupy. Add in the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir. The batter is supposed to be sticky.
5. Place dough in a large, greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel. Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
6. While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar and zest for the filling.
7. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
8. On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. You are aiming for about 12 inches by 20 inches of dough to be rolled out.
9. Then, with a pastry brush, spread melted butter across all of the dough. Sprinkle the grapefruit zest and sugar mixture across the rolled-out dough.
10. Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips.
11. Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again. You’ll have six stacks of six squares.
12. Layer the dough squares side by side in the loaf pan. Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and let sit in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.
13. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
14. Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown. The top may be lightly browned. If you are using a wider than suggested loaf pan, the center may still be raw. However, having a rich, golden brown crust on the top will ensure that it will be baked all the way through.
15. Let sit for 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around edges and ease bread from the pan, or serve straight from pan. This is best served the same day; however, if tightly covered it can stay for up to 2 days.