Pull-Apart Orange Bread, or the best hostess gift ever

My friend Miranda of Narrating Life is hosting a blog hop today.

And the topic is hostess gifts.

And since that is the funnest topic ever and since Miranda is a darling, of course I was thrilled to join in the blog hopping fun.

Also because I happen to know what the best hostess gift ever is.

No contest.

I know because I got it last week. It is breakfast.

Think about it, you just turned over your entire house to houseguests or worked the day away in the kitchen for dinner guests. What is the last thing you want to do the morning you wake up after all that fun?

Make more food. But you want to eat food. So this is where the hostess gift comes in.

After having a houseful of houseguests last week I woke up the next morning to find my sneaky SIL had cleaned everything and my sneaky little sister had made me a wonderful ooey layered loaf of this amazing bread.

That’s right, thanks to the baking brilliance of Joy the Baker and my sweet sister I pulled the kids out of bed the next day and sat down to this amazing thing.

Of course I did not take a photo of our delicious pull apart cinnamon bread because I was too busy pulling it apart.
and eating it.
all of it.
by noon.
But it was such the perfect breakfast (and lunch) that we couldn’t wait even a week before making one for ourselves. This time, we used my favorite orange roll recipe from Martha and made the recipe Joy’s pull apart style and it was pure heaven.

Pull Apart Orange Bread
Based on Joy’s Pull Apart Cinnamon Bread
and Martha’s Orange Rolls

Ingredients
2 envelopes active yeast (2 scant tablespoons)
1/4 cup warm water mixed with a pinch of sugar
1 cup scalded milk, cooled slightly
2 large eggs
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Finely grated zest of 2 oranges
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
Vegetable oil cooking spray, for bowl and tins

Method
1. In a mixing bowl, sprinkle yeast over sugar water; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add milk, eggs, granulated sugar, salt, half the zest, and shortening. Slowly add flour, mixing until combined. Knead until shiny and elastic, 3 to 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl; cover with plastic. Let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/4 hours.

2. If you’re making the dough the night before, like I did, so it is all set to roll and bake in the morning, this is the part where you can cover your dough and let it rise in the fridge overnight.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make filling: In a small bowl, mix remaining zest, 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, and butter. On a well-floured work surface, gently knead dough 3 to 4 times to release air pockets. Roll out dough to an 18-by-14-inch rectangle, dusting with flour as needed. Brush some of the filling over bottom half; fold to enclose. Brush half with filling, and fold again to enclose. Let rest about 5 minutes.
4. Lightly roll out dough again to a 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Brush half with remaining filling, and fold. Cut into squares. Place squares in coated pan (I used my new IKEA bread pan, which I love), with layers facing up. Let rise until almost doubled in bulk, 12 to 15 minutes.

5. Bake until golden, about 30–35 minutes. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes in pan, then transfer loaf to a cooling rack.

6. Make a thick icing by whisking together remaining 2 cups confectioners’ sugar and the juice. Drizzle over loaf. Pull apart and taste pure heaven.
Your blog hopping fun has just begun. Be sure to pick up more hostess gift inspiration today from these lovely ladies.
Marisa, Make Happy // Joy, Simply Bloom // Jocelyn, Inside BruCrew // Michelle, Chez Moi

Tagged as: gifts from the kitchen, good food for simple entertaining, hostess gifts, simple food, thank you gifts for an overnight hostess