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By Root 624 0

a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour and pour the liquid ingredients into it. Stir from the center outward to form a smooth batter, then fold and stir the rest of the flour into the liquid. Check to see if the dough needs more water or flour and add as necessary. Turn the dough out onto the table and knead until elastic. Don’t be stingy with the kneading: even with the extra weight of the fruit, this bread can be exceedingly light. Stop before you would ordinarily consider the dough perfect, though, especially if you have been kneading with mechanical help; otherwise the next step can be too much.

Flatten the kneaded dough out on the tabletop and distribute the raisins and nuts, if used, on the top. Roll up and gently knead in the fruit. This takes doing, but eventually they will all be worked in.

Cover the dough and place it in a warm, draft-free place to rise. It will take from 1 ½ to 2 hours to rise fully; test by making a ½-inch hole in the dough with a wet fingertip: if the hole fills in slightly, give more time; if it remains, or remains and the dough sighs, deflate and let rise again, which will take about an hour.

Divide the dough and shape it for loaves. Of course, with the raisins poking through, it is not possible to keep a perfect gluten film, but do the best you can. This is a light, high-rising dough and will overcome the sweet little obstacles very nicely. Remove the raisins that pop out of the finished loaf, though, because they can burn in the oven and make the pan hard to clean. Sprinkle the loaves with cinnamon if you like.

Place the shaped bread in a warm, humid place to rise. It should double in an hour or less—check it after half an hour.

Bake at 325° to 350°F for 45 minutes to an hour—highrising loaves will take the least time. Let the bread cool before slicing or you may find your airy loaf has become a misshapen pancake!

Since this is a great gifting bread, here are a few ways to make it fancier:

Bake hearth-style in a pie tin.

Put a shine on the crust, either with an egg wash or by brushing with butter after the loaf comes out of the oven.

Use the dough to make round dinner rolls in a baking pan or in muffin tins.

A Few Words About Giving Bread

No one need be told that a hot loaf of bread fresh from the oven makes a wonderful present, both for giving and for receiving. If the loaf has to wait a day or even more, choose bread that keeps especially well, and store it carefully. If possible, you could refresh it by wrapping in a damp towel and warming it briefly before you hand it over. We keep a supply of new, clean paper bags for wrapping fresh gift bread, because if a hot loaf is put in plastic, the bread will “sweat” and be soggy, or worse, moldy, when the otherwise lucky receiver goes to eat it.

Fruited Loaves

1 cup chopped dried apricots (130 g)

⅔ cup pitted, chopped prunes (112 g)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)

½ cup warm water (120 ml)

5 ½ cups whole wheat flour (830 g)

1 tablespoon salt (16.5 g) grated peel of one lemon

2 ½ cups liquid—include prune and apricot broth (590 ml)

2 tablespoons honey (30 ml)

½ cup toasted, chopped almonds (71 g)

2 tablespoons butter (28 g)

OR

¼ cup oil (60 ml)

A very light bread, exceptionally tasty. The combination of nuts and fruit here is quite special and harmonious. The bread keeps well—though not of course for weeks like a traditional fruitcake! Because the little nubbets of apricot and prune are part of the charm of this bread, be sure to keep the fruit firm as described.

Prepare the fruit and set aside.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.

Measure the flour, salt, and lemon peel into a bowl. Stir lightly and make a well in the center.

If you stewed the fruit, measure the liquid and add the honey plus water to make a lukewarm 2 ½ cups. Add the oil now, if used.

Pour the liquid mixture into the well in the flour and stir them together from the center to make dough the consistency of pancake batter in the middle of the flour. Now add the yeast and continue to stir