| Ingredients:
Dough
1 cup water or milk.
20g yeast (approx. 4 tsps).
3/4 cup sugar.
4 cups plain flour.
3 eggs.
1 tsp ground cardamom (optional).
Pinch of salt.
50g butter.
Filling
1 cup raisins or currants.
1 cup crystallized fruit and
mixed peel.
1/4 cup sugar.
1 tsp vanilla essence.
1 tsp cinnamon.
1 egg.
25g butter.
Glaze
2 tbsp icing sugar.
2 tsp orange juice.
Slivered almonds for decoration.
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Method:
Dough
Mix 1/2 tsp sugar with the
yeast and stir in 2-3 tbsps of lukewarm water
or milk. Stir in one direction only so as not
to break the yeast fibres. Set aside to bubble.
Sift half the flour into a bowl.
Add the rest of the water or milk
to the yeast, and stir this into the flour. Combine
until smooth. Cover the dough with a tea towel
and set aside in a warm place to double in size.
Add the eggs, the remainder of the
sugar, cardamom and a pinch of salt to the dough.
Mix, stirring in one direction only. Sift in the
remaining flour in batches.
Melt the butter and stir it into
the dough. Knead until smooth. Cover the dough
with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place
for a second time to double in size. Punch down
the dough and set aside for another hour.
Knead the dough for 5 or so minutes
until smooth and elastic. Roll out into a rectangle
around 5mm thick on a well greased baking sheet.
Filling
Combine all the filling ingredients
together. You can adjust the amount and type of
fruit and spices to your taste.
Spread the filling evenly over the
surface of the dough as shown in the picture at
left. Dot with the remaining 25g of butter.
Roll the dough into a long tube
and seal the long edge with the white from the
egg. I worked the edge into the dough underneath
by pinching it together and rolling the whole
thing a few times on the tray to flatten the seal.
Shape the tube into a ring and join
the ends together in similar fashion.
Using kitchen scissors or a knife,
cut slits into the outer edge of the ring (see
picture at left). Leave the dough ring to rest
while you heat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees
C.
Glaze the top of the dough ring
with the remaining beaten egg.
Bake in the middle of the oven for
around 20 minutes. Check after 10 minutes to make
sure the top is not browning too quickly. If necessary,
cover the top of the bread with a layer of tin
foil for the remainder of the cooking time.
Remove the bread from the oven and
rest it for 15 minutes wrapped in a towel.
Glaze
Mix the icing sugar and orange
juice together to form a glaze thick enough to
drizzle over the top of the bread. Sprinkle over
with the slivered almonds.
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