Lenôtre’s Raisins Grand Marnier Bread

Preparing the raisins

1.  Lenôtre tells us to start preparing the dried raisins : Pour water in a saucepan and bring to a boil

2. Add in the Dried Raisins (2 ½ Cups or 360 g)

3. Cook for 10 seconds

4. Remove from heat

5. Drain the liquid by pouring the content of the saucepan through a small colander

6. Transfer the Dried Raisins (2 ½ Cups or 360 g) into a ziploc bag and close the bag

7.  Let cool down in the fridge

Scanpan SaucepanCalphalon Nonstick Sauce PanLarge Stainless Steel Fine Mesh StrainerReusable Silicone Food Storage Bags

8. For this recipe, you may use a spatula, or a stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid appliance)

9. Soften the Butter (1 ¼ Cup or 260 g)

10. Add in the Icing Sugar (1 ¼ Cup or 240 g) and mix

Stainless Steel Mixing BowlPolyglass Spatula

11. Zest the Orange Zests (2) et the Lemon Zests (2): To zest the fruit, use a microplane or grater

12. Add in and mix the Sliced Almonds (2 Tablespoons or 20 g) and the Salt (1 pinch)

Microplane Zester GraterZester Deiss

13. Add in the Eggs (4) and mix

14. Add in the Grand Marnier (1 tablespoon) and mix

15. Sift and mix the Flour (2 ½ Cups or 380 g) and the Baking Powder (2 teaspoons or 11 g)

16. Take the Dried Raisins (2 ½ Cups or 360 g) out of the fridge, add in and mix

Sifter for BakingFlour Sifter

Preparing the mold

17. Slightly grease the baking mold with melted butter

18. Place a parchment paper, press, and trim the excess with scissors

Norpro Nonstick Bread Pan, 10″ x 4.5″Loaf Cake Pan, Adjustable Range

Cooling down

19. Fill the mold with the batter

20.  Place it in the refrigerator for 2 hours

KitchenAid Silicone Spatula SetLe Creuset Silicone Spatula

Baking

21. Remove the mold (with the batter in it) from the refrigerator

22.  Place in preheated oven at 320 °F / 160 °C

23. After 20 minutes lightly slice the top of the bread lengthwise

The syrup

24.  In a saucepan, bring to a boil the Water (4 Tablespoons or 50 g) and the Sugar (4 Tablespoons or 50 g)

25. Remove from heat

26. Pour in the Grand Marnier (1 tablespoon)

27. Transfer to a serving bowl and let cool down

Is it baked?

28. Expect baking for at least 1 hour, and perhaps longer (even 20 minutes depending on your oven)

29. After 1 hour, test the baking every 5 minutes

30. If you insert a knife into the center of the cake, it should come out clean, with no streaks of batter, otherwise keep on baking

31. After baking, brush the bread with the syrup, and remove the cake from the mold right away (otherwise the hot mold continues to bake the bread), and leave the parchment paper

Pastry BrushSilicone Brush, Heat Resistant for Pastry and Barbecue

32.  Let the bread cool down at room temperature, and after 30 minutes to one hour, remove the parchment paper