AVIES HOME MADE CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS JEWEL BREAD



Not everyone likes the traditional Christmas cake and some,who are on a diet but love a slice of the spicy cake might appreciate this recipe. It is my own take on the traditional stollen,seen everywhere these days,it looks good on the Christmas tea table and also make a lovely gift suitably wrapped.

Half a teaspoon of Allspice

juice and rind of 1 lime

juice and rind of 1 lemon

175g strong white bread flour

1 tspn easy bake dried yeast ( the sort that only has to rise once)

4og butter melted

100ml tepid milk

500g ground almonds

100g icing sugar

1 egg yolk plus 1 tablespoon of egg white

80g pistachio nuts

75g glacé cherries washed and halved

25g caster sugar

Put the Allspice into a bowl and add the lime and lemon rest,flour,yeast and caster sugar

Add the butter to the bowl with the egg yolk and the milk. Mix with a metal spoon to make a soft dough,adding a little more milk if the mixture feels dry then turn out on to a flour surface and knead for ten minutes then cover the dough with a damp cloth

Put 25g of the pistachio nuts in to a grinder with the ground almonds and blend until the pistachios are mixed with the almonds and the mixture is pale green . Add 40 g of the icing sugar and the egg white and blend to a thick past , white if necessary,adding more egg,

then roll the paste in to a cylindrical shape.

Take the dough and knead in the glacé cherries and the remaining pistachio nuts, make the dough in to a ball then flatten it out into a round then place the pistachio paste in to the centre of the dough and roll it up to completely cover the marzipan. Place in a 2lb loaf tin with the join underneath then

cover with the wet cloth again and leave in a warm place to rise. Preheat the oven to 200oC and bake for about 25 minutes when the loaf should be risen and golden brown.

Tip the loaf out of the tin and tap the bottom,if it sounds hollow then the loaf is done,if not return it to the oven for another five minutes then test again.

Decorate the loaf by mixing the remaining icing sugar with the strained lime juice and a little of the lemon juice and mix to a smooth paste then drizzle over the top of the loaf.

Wait a few hours for the icing to set then wrap in cellophane as a gift of keep in a tin until required.