This is a loaf that gets made again and again in this house. Ingredients wise it’s not too different from the hot cross buns or the spiced fruit buns that I have posted about before. I think, though, that this loaf is perhaps a little quicker to make as you add marmalade and so there is no need to zest and squeeze fruit. There is also something very satisfying about having a loaf that you can keep going back to and cutting a bit more off. It is lovely when it’s still vaguely warm from the oven, spread with butter, but it’s just as nice toasted the next day for breakfast ( or mid morning, or lunch, or all three).
The recipe is an adaptation of the Raisin Bread recipe in The River Cottage Family Cookbook (ISBN 0 340 82636 3). You can use any combination of dried fruit that you like or have available as long as it totals 150g.
500g strong white bread flour
1 tsp mixed spice
7g easy action yeast
2 scant teaspoons fine salt
40g cranberries
40g currants
40g dried blueberries
30g sultanas
1 egg
125 ml warm water
125ml warm milk ( I tend to use just boiled water on top of the cold milk and that gets the temperature about right, you want it hand hot)
2 tbsp marmalade
For the glaze:
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp water
(Or you could glaze with a couple of tablespoons of warmed honey)
Method
If you have a freestanding mixer then all you do is put all of the ingredients into the bowl and using the dough hook mix on speed 2 for two minutes. Turn it out of the bowl and manhandle into a ball. Place back in the bowl and cover with a large plastic bag for 1 hour to 1 ½ hours until it has doubled in size.
If you are mixing by hand, then put the flour, yeast, dried fruit, mixed spice and salt into a bowl. Measure the milk and water in a jug and beat in the egg. Add the liquid and the marmalade to the flour and using a flat knife such as a pallette knife, begin to mix together. When it is all combined, tip it out onto a lightly floured worktop and begin to knead. To do this you hold half the dough down with one fist and stretch the other half away from you with the heel of your other hand. Fold the dough back onto itself, turn and repeat the process for about ten minutes or until your arms fall off, whichever is the soonest. Make it into a ball shape and place into a bowl and cover with a large plastic bag until doubled in size.
Grease a loaf tin with butter. Take off the plastic bag and gently press the air out of the dough using your fingertips. Lift the dough out of the bowl and shape into a log shape by stretching and folding. Be gentle though. Place the dough into the loaf tin and cover again for 20-30 minutes until it has risen by about half its size again.
Place in preheated oven at 220°c, gas mark 7 or the Roasting Oven of the Aga for about twenty – thirty minutes until golden and sounds hollow when turned out and tapped on its base. Take the loaf out of its tin and place on a wire rack.
Just before the end of the cooking time, put the sugar and water for the glaze in a small pan over a gentle heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat. Brush the glaze over the loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven and is sitting on the wire rack.
Allow to cool before taking your first slice.
Nothing comforts better than a slice of fresh from the oven fruit bread. Looks really tasty ;0)
Ah thank you Chele.
Looks gorgeous especially with that lovely glossy crust.
Thanks you Choclette. That crust really makes the loaf, it’s lovely having the contrast of the soft bread with the sugary crust.
Comfort on a plate with butter spread over the top – throw in a cup of tea and I will be feeling all warm and fuzzy.
🙂 Mandy
A cup of tea is absolutely necessary.
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This is my kind of bread, soft and high and glossy and fruit-studded. No wonder it gets made again and again and again in your home. thanks for sharing this recipe, lovely!
You could not pay money to buy this, how lovely does that look? I dont want my dinner now, just slices and slices of this lovely creation…
Ah thank you Hampshire Cook.
You home made fruit loaf is a delight to look at.
D often likes having croissants, I am more of a fruit loaf girl, so must have a go at making this one of these weekend.
Thank you Mangocheeks and I hope D will try it too – we may yet convert him 🙂
Your fruit bread looks so festive & absolutely appetizing too!
MMMMMMMMMMMM,…!!!
Does it matter if you use fast action yeast and just wack it in the oven from the off?
Hi David,
Fast action yeast would be just fine to use, but you will need to allow it to prove before you cook it or it will be as flat as a pancake. This is more of a bread than a cake. Hope you try it, it’s worth the wait. Kath
So how long do you think i should leave it for then Kath
Thanks btw 🙂
Hi David,
If your kitchen is warm, then the first proving in a bowl should take about an hour. Then you will need to knock the air out gently, shape it, place it in a buttered tin and cover again and leave again for 2o mins or until it has almost doubled in size again and then put it into the preheated oven. If your kitchen is cool then the proving will take longer.
Hope it works well for you.
Kath
Made this today. Came out astoundingly well, the whole house smells fruity and spicy! Can’t wait to try a piece!
Here, I took a picture! I didn’t put the sugar glaze on, though, as I hate how it sticks to my fingers.
http://i.imgur.com/rtbuNyt.jpg
Ooh Haunted Blood, that loaf looks good and I love the way that it fills the house with that fruity spicy scent too. I haven’t made this for ages. Something that needs to change. You have inspired me.