Day 1: Make Sweet Levain

In a small bowl, mix the starter and water. Add in the flour and ¼ tsp. sugar. Stir well. Cover the bowl and set aside in a warm place for 8-10 hours, or overnight, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.

Day 2: Prepare Final Dough

Combine the flour and water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook, mix until there are no dry bits of flour. Cover, and let the mixture rest for 20-30 minutes.

Scrape the levain into the bowl, and sprinkle ½ teaspoon dried yeast over the top. Mix thoroughly on low speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl as needed. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for 15 minutes.

Add melted butter, sugar, and salt to the dough and mix on low speed until butter is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds. Increase speed to medium and continue to knead until dough is smooth and elastic and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl, 6 to 8 minutes longer. Add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed to reach a workable dough.

Place the dough into a large bowl, cover, and let rise on the counter at room temperature for 30 minutes. Place in the refrigerator overnight. You also have the option of letting it rise at room temperature until puffy, 1-2 hours.

Note: Chilling the dough overnight helps it firm up, making it easier to roll into a spiral for beautiful pull-apart discs, and prevents the dough from getting crushed when you cut the slits.

Day 3: Shape, Fill & Bake

Line an 8 by 4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. Remove the parchment and set aside on a baking sheet.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and transfer it to a lightly floured counter.  Using a rolling pin, roll it into an 8 by 7-inch rectangle. Starting from the short end, roll the dough into a spiraled loaf and place it, seam side down onto the parchment.

Melt the butter and whisk the sugars and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Combine the butter and cinnamon sugar.

Slit the loaf (almost to the bottom) 6 to 8 times with a serrated knife and stuff the slits with the butter and sugar/cinnamon mixture. Using the parchment, lift the loaf and place it into the pan. Spread with the rest of the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Let dough rise until puffy, about 1 hour. The sugar coating may crack during this time, but don’t worry about that. It makes a lovely design.

With a rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for about 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. The center of the loaf should register 205 to 210 degrees and the loaf should be well browned. Cool on a wire rack.