Its sad but true, I may have huge panda eyes but I'm happy BAKING BREAD!! :)
I couldn't help it. Being a public holiday and no plans (think my friends were probably recovering from last night's late party), I finally had some free time. The thought of jostling with the crowd at the shopping mall didn't appeal.Since I had some leftover fruits macerated with rum (from my earlier fruit panettone bake), I thought I'd use them to make another festive bread.
This is bread is another inspiration from Jude. As usual, her beautiful pictures perked my attention. It also helped that this recipe is pretty straight forward.
Adapted recipe
298g bread flour
28g caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6g instant yeast
1 tsp lemon extract
66g eggs
79g milk
19g unsalted butter
40g water, room temp
175g macerated mixture of cranberries, raisins and sultanas with rum or any alcohol of your taste (or orange juice or tea)
60g toasted and coarsely chopped walnuts
For egg wash -1 whisked egg mixed with a 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tbsp brown sugar
- Mix all ingredients except the fruits, nuts and salt.
- After 3 min, knead in the salt.
- Continue to knead dough for 15 min until pliable and passes the window pane test.
- Knead in gently the fruits and nuts until it is evenly incorporated.
- Cover and rest dough at room temperature for 2 hours.
- Shape dough as desired. I braided mine. On hindsight, perhaps I should have opted for the challah double-decker braid - would have looked more impressive. Whatever shape you fancy, the more important thing is that it must taste as good as it looks!! Ha ha
- Glaze the braided bread with egg wash and proof for 1.5 hours or until double in size.
- Glaze again with rest of egg wash before putting into the oven.
- Bake in preheated oven at 165 degrees for about 35 - 40 min.
- Cool baked bread on rack for about 1 hour.
The bread was lovely to munch and I must say, slightly addictive (maybe its the rum??) as the crust was lightly crusted and the interior - well, full of nuts and fruits. The taste of rum wasn't too obvious even though the fruits were macerated for more than 2 weeks. Next time I'll experiment with Tia Maria or Kahlua!!!
A great bread for tea or well, any time of the day!
