What a delightful bread to serve around the holidays—conjures up images of sugar plums. During the holidays, I bake a lot of delicious breads, which my family likes. One of my favorite pastimes is baking, which I like. Pine nuts can be changed out for slivered almonds.
| Servings: | 20 |
| Yield: | 2 round loaves |
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
- 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
- ½ cup white sugar
- ½ cup butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 6 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup candied mixed fruit
- 1 cup raisins
- ¾ cup pine nuts
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract (Optional)
- 1 cup cherries
Instructions
- Dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar in 1 cup warm water in large mixer bowl. Sprinkle in yeast. Let stand 10 minutes, then stir well.
- Add 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter or margarine, salt, lemon rind, and 2 cups flour. Beat for 2 minutes at medium speed with electric mixer. Add 2 cups more flour and eggs; beat 3 minutes. Stir in almost all remaining flour, using enough flour to make a soft dough.
- Knead dough on floured board until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in lightly greased bowl. Cover with greased waxed paper and a tea towel. Let rise in warm place 75 – 85 degrees F (25 – 30 degrees C)until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
- Punch down dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board, and knead in raisins, candied fruit, and nuts. Shape into two round loaves. Place each in a well greased, 9 inch, round cake pan. Cover with tea towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled, 1 – 1 1/2 hours.
- Bake at 350 degrees F ( 175 degrees C) for 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Cool on wire racks.
- Mix together confectioners sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons water, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Spoon onto loaves. Decorate with cherries or almonds. Alternatively, dust loaves with confectioners sugar.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 307 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 52 g |
| Cholesterol | 49 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 7 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 282 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 9 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I used honey instead of sugar, omitted the candied fruit, and used chopped dried pears to substitute for the raisins and candied fruit, and substituted sunflower seeds for the pine nuts. I made my own glaze recipe, and decorated with seasonal cherries. Delicious!
This was good. Not excellent though. I probably won’t make it again — just wasn’t what I was looking for!
A nice light recipe, fruity and not too sweet. I used chopped almonds. I took it to work for a pot luck and it went fast.