More than a holiday season staple, this fruit loaf is great year-round, served with your favourite post-meal cup of tea.
Function: Dough Proving and Bread Baking
Fruit Loaf
Ingredients
Fruit Mixture
100g dates, roughly chopped
100g dried apricots, roughly chopped
50g glace cherries, halved
50g currants
50g dried cranberries or blueberries
1 orange, zested and juiced
100ml chai tea, cooled
Dough
50ml warm water
1 heaped tsp dried yeast
2 cups bread flour
2 tsp Gewürzhaus St Nicholas Spekulaas Spice Mix
1 tbsp caster sugar
½ tsp salt
Topping
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tsp raw sugar
Method
Combine fruits with the orange juice and zest and chai and leave to macerate for 30 minutes.
Place the warm water into a small bowl and add the yeast. Whisk briefly with a fork to combine. Let the yeast activate for 10 minutes.
Place the bread flour, spice mix, caster sugar, salt and the yeast/water mixture into a mixer with a dough hook. Drain the liquid from the macerating fruit and add to the dough ingredients. Knead this mixture for approximately 5 minutes until dough starts to come together. Add in the fruit and knead for another 5 minutes. If the dough is a little sticky, add a tablespoon of extra flour. Keep kneading until the dough forms a smooth ball.
Set your oven to Dough proving. Turn out the dough onto a floured universal tray and prove for 30 minutes. Remove dough at the end of proving and knock back and knead into a free form oval shape. Place back into the oven to prove for a further 15 minutes.
Change oven function to Breadbaking at 180°C. Once the oven is at temperature, place the universal tray into the oven on level 3 and cook your loaf for approximately 45 minutes.
Remove from the oven and brush with the melted butter and sprinkle with the sugar and spice. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
Authors Bio
Paula is an experienced chef, having trained at the renowned William Angliss College and also a qualified Food Technology teacher. Paula has owned and managed a number of food inspired businesses over her career. She is also a prize-winning scone baker!