Winter loaf
As it gets colder and darker I start to fancy hotcross buns, which is a chronological shame. Instead, I made this fruit bread on a whim. It was excellent fresh (with butter) and toasted a few days later when it had gone a bit dry.
I have a breadmaker which I shamelessly adore. I still make bread by hand occasionally (I love a good kneed), but we use the breadmaker most weekends. I also use it to make dough for pizza etc. The model I’ve got isn’t available any more but the Panasonic SD-2501 WXC is the closest and has the all important fruit and nut dispenser.
You will need
- 400g string white bread flour.
- 300ml of milk
- A packet of easy yeast
- An egg
- A chunk of butter. I used a slice off the block about a fat fingers width
- A heaped teaspoon of mixed spice
- A handful of sugar (literally in my case)
- A good handful of mixed raisins, sultanas, and some mixed peel (in whatever ratios use to the ends of the packets)
- Golden Syrup
Do
- Put everything in the breadmaker except the fruit
- Put the fruit in the dispensing hatch
- Dial it up
- Once the bread machine has pinged pop the top open and once cool enough to touch slash a few slices through the top of the loaf
- Pour over golden syrup. I guess I used about a tablespoonful but it was one of the new squeezy bottles (so much more practical that the tin, so less elegant)
Result
Cut into thick slices. Toast if needed. It’s not super sweet until you hit a patch of golden syrup and the spice is more for the nose than the tongue.
*/