Solielune - Sun and Moon Bread

I have a friend here on the Island who is a better cook and better baker than me.  She's especially good at breads, and exceptionally generous, so I often get to taste her creations.  She makes these wonderful little rolls, whose name I haven't a clue, that are topped with toasted pepitas, and are oh so good!  She also makes oatmeal bread, wheat breads, raisin walnut bread, tomato basil bread, you name it.

She recently lent me one of her favorite bread recipe books, Bread for all Seasons, and as I read through it, I stumbled on a recipe for Solielune, or Sun and Moon Bread.  I'd had this bread many yeas ago, and seeing the recipe inspired me to try my hand at it.  Also called Sally Lunn in England, it's similar to a brioche.  The recipe I worked from called for baking it in a buttered bundt or angel food cake pan, though traditionally, it may have been prepared as small cakes, like brioche.  I opted to bake mine in buttered muffin tins  and ramekins because I love individual sized snacks that can be packed with us for a trip to town or just a personal sweet treasure.

This dough is thick and sticky, not an easy dough to work with.  On the upside though, there is no kneading.  The dough is very yeasty and the rise is almost a little frightening.  I actually imagined scenes from some 1950's horror spoof in which an aproned house wife runs screaming from her kitchen as the monstrous bread begins to take over.

Lucky for us, it didn't take over, but rather treated us to an especially delightful, lightly sweet snack.  Rich and buttery with a hint of lemon, this yeasty, delicious treat will inspire visions of tea parties, lacy kerchiefs, and delicate porcelain, and perhaps even Alice and the Rabbit.

And yet...  these little mini-breads I made, looking more like comical mushrooms with tops spilling over their stems, were very satisfying.  We topped them with some sweet butter for a snack that held us over well into the dinner hour.

Here is my adaptation of the recipe, modified as much out of necessity as inspiration.

Solielune — Sun and Moon Bread

1 Tbs. dry yeast (1 quarter ounce package)
1/4 cup sugar, plus 1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup warm water (about 110º)
1 cup milk
6 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut up*
1 tsp. lemon extract*
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3 1/2 cups all purpose, unbleached flour
1 tsp. salt
3 eggs, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract
zest of one lemon

In a 4 cup glass measuring cup, combine yeast, 1/4 tsp. sugar, and warm water; stir to dissolve.  Let stand until the mixture is foamy. (Recipe indicated 10 minutes, but I found it only took a few minutes.)

In a glass bowl in the microwave, or a heavy pan over the stove over low heat, warm the milk to about 110º.  Add the butter and melt slowly, maintaing a temperature of about 110º.  When the butter is melted, remove from the heat and set aside.  Add 1 tsp. lemon extract and stir gently to combine.

In a large bowl, combine flours, 1/4 cup sugar, and salt.  Add milk/butter mixture to the four along with the eggs, vanilla, and yeast mixture and beat until smooth using a hand mixer on low or by hand.

The dough will be more like a thick, sticky batter at this point.  Grease one side of a sheet of plastic wrap, cover dough, and let it rise at room temperature (68º-72º) for about 90 minutes or until about doubled in size.

After rising, spoon the dough into very well buttered over-sized muffin tins or ramekins.  This is best achieved using a lightly greased flexible silicone spatula to scoop the dough into the tins.  Replace the greased plastic wrap (re-grease if necessary; trust me, this stuff is sticky!) and let stand for about 45 minutes until again doubled in size.

Center oven rack and  preheat oven to 350º.

Remove plastic wrap and sprinkle the tops of each bread with a equal amounts of lemon zest.  Bake at 350º for 20-25 minutes, checking for doneness every 5 minutes after the first 15 minutes.  The mini-breads are done when they are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

When done, remove from the pan and cool a rack for 10 minutes.  Serve slightly warm with butter.  And maybe even a tea party...


*If you don't have unsalted butter, salted butter may be used, but reduce the salt in the recipe by at least half.  Additionally, 1 Tbs. lemon zest may be substituted for the lemon extract.  Likewise, the recipe indicates that 1/4 tsp. each of allspice and mace may be substituted for lemon altogether.  The bread may also be prepared in a 10-inch bundt or angel food cake pan.