Sweet Raisin Bread

This bread fills the whole house with the kind of aroma that makes everyone wander into the kitchen asking what’s baking.

Six eggs beaten with sugar go into a yeast dough perfumed with anise extract, grated lemon rind, and orange zest.

A generous cup and a half of raisins gets mixed right into the flour so every slice is packed with plump, sweet pockets.

Two slow rises develop the flavor and texture, then the dough divides into four loaves that bake up golden and tender.

This is the kind of bread you slice thick, toast lightly, and eat with just a smear of butter.

Kitchen Tips

• Oil your hands before handling the dough. It’s sticky and rich, and oiled hands keep it from clinging to everything.
• Give the dough its full two rises. Cutting corners on rise time means dense, heavy loaves instead of light, airy ones.
• Cover loosely with foil partway through baking. The sugar and eggs make this bread brown quickly, and foil prevents the top from getting too dark while the center finishes cooking.
• Let the loaves cool before slicing. Fresh-from-the-oven bread is tempting, but cutting too early compresses the crumb.