How to Make Dried Fruit Bread

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By billips
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Make Dried Fruit Bread

A neighbour just introduced me to this wonderful bread. It is made with dried fruits, not the candied fruit we usually associate with Christmas Baking. The resulting bread is packed with goodness, rich tasting, and not overly sweet. This recipe makes 2 small loaves. It freezes well.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

1/4 pound dried pears
1/4 pound dried apples
1/4 pound figs
1/4 pound dates
1/4 pound prunes
1/2 pound raisins
1/4 pound chopped citron
1/4 pound butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 pound pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 envelope yeast
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups flour

Step 1

Chop the pears, apples, figs, dates, and prunes, coarsely. Place them in a heavy saucepan along with the raisins and the citron. Add liquid until the fruit is just covered. Simmer the fruits until they are tender. Drain well.
Step 2

Into the cooked fruits, stir the butter, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Blend well and set aside to cool. To the fruit liquid, add just enough water to make 2 cups all in all. When the fruit is cool, take 1/3 cup of liquid, warm it, and in it place the yeast.
Step 3

When the yeast is softened, stir it into the remaining liquid. Stir in the egg, salt and half the flour. Beat well. Beat in more flour until it is firm enough to handle. Place dough in a well-buttered bowl, rolling it around until the whole surface is buttered. Cover bowl and set in a warm place to rise until doubled.
Step 4

When the dough has doubled in size, punch it down. Place it on a floured board and knead until it is smooth and silky and is pushing back against your hand. Butter two loaf pans. Return the dough to a large bowl and add the cooked fruit and the nuts. Work them into the dough until the pieces are evenly spread and there are no clumps anywhere. Add more flour, but just enough so you can still handle the dough.
Step 5

Form the dough into two loaves and place in buttered pans. Cover loaves and place in warm area to rise until almost doubled. Heat oven to 375 degrees. When dough has risen, place loaves in oven and bake for 15 minutes, ONLY, then reduce heat to 325 degrees, and bake for approximately 1 hour more or until the bread tests done. Cool on racks. You can ice this with a thin icing sugar frosting if you wish or leave it uniced for making toast. Enjoy!