Luxury Tea Loaf with Exotic Fruits

Luxury Tea Loaf with Exotic Fruits

“This is a lovely treat for friends who will love the unusual scent of cardamom in this masterpiece!”

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:

1. Place bread mix in large bowl, add salt, 6oz of sugar, cardamom, nutmeg and lemon rind and mix thoroughly.
2. 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.
3. Knead on a floured surface until smooth dough is formed.
4. Place the round back in the bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
5. Remove the dough and knead in the fruit and cherries, and cover again and leave to rise to double the size.
6. This mix will make either one jumbo loaf, or two medium-sized loaves (the latter is easier to manage).
7. Separate the dough into three pieces (6 if you are making 2 loaves).
8. Roll out into long rectangular pieces of width about 3 inches.
9. 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.
10. Brush edges with water and roll up so cheese mixture is encased, and you have what looks like thin tubing.
11. Plait until you reach the ends of the lengths, then loop whole plait into a round, moisten edges and mold together.
12. Bake in hot oven; say 150 degrees until deep, golden colour, and on tapping the dough sounds hollow.
13. 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!!”