Dried Fruit Nut Bread

I love this bread, the sweetness of the dried fruit and the brown sugar makes it taste like a cake, perfect for breakfast but also as a side dish for a dinner or lunch, it combines delicious with a savory dish. This is my adapted recipe from a lardy cake. When I saw this recipe on tv I knew I had to try it, but I don't like to use lard in my kitchen, instead I used only butter. You can fill the dough with any fruit or nut and do not be scared with the instructions below, it can seems a little bit dificult, but once the dough is ready to fill you just need to fold it several times before shape it.

Raisins & Nuts Bread 

225 g strong white flour

7 g yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
75 g butter (or half butter, half yard)
300 ml water
100 g mixed dried fruit and nuts, I used blueberries, raisins and walnuts.
30 g brown sugar
extra flour for dusting

Mix together the flour, the salt and the yeast in a mixing bowl, add in 20 g of the butter using your fingertips. Add three-quarters of the water and hand-mix the flour into the water to form a dough. Add as much of the remaining water as you need to get a dough that is soft and leaves the sides of the bowl clean.

Put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth. Place in a clean bowl, cover with plastic and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 1-2 hours, it will depend on the temperature of the room.

Put the dough onto a floured work surface and roll into a rectangle. Pour a third of the remaining butter over the surface of the dough using your fingers. Scatter over a third of the fruit and nuts and a third of the sugar. Fold the top third of the dough down and the bottom third up so that the dough is folded in three and roughly square. Turn the dough a quarter turn. Roll out and repeat the out process twice more, to use up all the butter and fruit.

Line a 20cm/ round loose bottomed tin with baking parchment. Roll out the dough to fit the tin. Cover with plastic film and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180º.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden-brown. Leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin. Cut into squares and serve warm or cold. But better to eat it within the same day after done. 

If you follow me on facebook you will know already I'm collaborating with a magazine, you can have a look to the new issue full of amazing tips and recipes. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Enjoy your week ♥