Luxury Tea Loaf with Exotic Fruits
“This is a lovely treat for friends who will love the unusual scent of cardamom in this masterpiece!”
![Luxury tea loaf with exotic fruits unique recipe by Elle Smith Creativity in the Kitchen Inspired By Elle Sweet Dough Bread](//cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0952/0816/files/tea_loaf_3-improved_medium.jpg?6070507771129501208)
Ingredients:
500g pack White Bread Mix
a pinch of grated Rock Salt
grated rind of half of a Lemon
6 oz natural Caster Sugar
4 oz of Luxury Dried Exotic Fruits, including saltanas, currants, raisins, pineapple, apricots and mango pieces
about 6 Glace Cherries, chopped into tiny pieces
0.25 teaspoon of freshly ground Nutmeg
11 pods of Cardamom, shelled and seeds pound up in a pestle and mortar
1 large Egg, beaten
2 oz of Butter, melted
about 4 to 6 fl. oz warmed milk, test with fingers
1 tablespoon of Vanilla Extract
4 oz of soft Crème Cheese, like Philadelphia
2 oz of Natural Caster Sugar
1 Vanilla pod, contents scraped from interior
Method:
- Place bread mix in large bowl, add salt, 6oz of sugar, cardamom, nutmeg and lemon rind and mix thoroughly.
- Make a “well” in the centre of the mixture, and pour in the melted butter, beaten egg, vanilla extract and warm milk. Mix well using a knife.
- Knead on a floured surface until smooth dough is formed.
- Place the round back in the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
- Remove the dough and knead in the fruit and cherries, and cover again and leave to rise to double the size.
- This mix will make either one jumbo loaf, or two medium-sized loaves (the latter is easier to manage).
- Separate the dough into three pieces (6 if you are making 2 loaves).
- Roll out into long rectangular pieces of width about 3 inches.
- Mix the soft cheese with the 2 oz of sugar and vanilla seeds until a smooth consistency is achieved. Place in a piping bag with plain large éclair nozzle of about 1cm or just use a teaspoon to form a line of cheese mixture down the centre of the lengths of the rectangles, splitting the mixture equally between the number of lengths you have, be it 3 or 6.
- Brush edges with water and roll up so cheese mixture is encased, and you have what looks like thin tubing.
- Plait until you reach the ends of the lengths, then loop whole plait into a round, moisten edges and mold together.
- Bake in hot oven; say 150 degrees until deep, golden colour, and on tapping the dough sounds hollow.
- Best served when still slightly warm.
“A tea loaf with a distinct flavour, which is lovely on its own or buttered, and definitely with a specialty tea. A unique recipe mixing exotic spice with sweet bread dough!!”