Spiced Fruit & Nut Loaf
This Spiced Fruit & Nut Loaf is a decadent Fruit Bread that includes a generous combination of nuts for extra texture and flavour. Ensuring the dough completes two full rises gives a light and airy crumb, with the second rise essential to the final loaf structure. Since there is a significant amount of fruit and nuts added to the dough, it has the potential to be quite dense and consequently does not rise much once you put it in the oven. So, you need to ensure that the loaf is proofed fully before baking to enjoy optimal results.
The combination of mix-in’s in this Fruit & Nut loaf is flexible. I recommend you include your favorite dried fruits – this could include sultanas, dried cherries and dried figs. If you don’t wish to include nuts, it’s perfectly at home as a straight fruit loaf as well.
Bread making is very rewarding, but it can take a few attempts to get it right as the unique conditions in your home will have some impact on how each step progresses. The more practice you get, the better your loaves will be as you start to develop a feel for the process.
The basic bread recipe here can be adapted for a multitude of uses once you get comfortable with handling it, as the small amounts of sugar and oil make it a bit more forgiving than a straight flour, salt, water & yeast bread. Adding the Fruits and Nuts listed in the recipe below to make it a Spiced Fruit & Nut Loaf is just one of many options and we encourage you to try out your own variations.
If you’re enjoying making this bread or interested in other bread recipes, make sure to check out our recipe archive here.
Spiced Fruit Loaf
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the Basic Dough Ingredients (Flour, Sugar, Yeast, Oil, Salt & Water).
Mix on low speed until everything comes together, then continue to knead for 6-8 minutes. The ball of dough should be smooth and pliable.
Shape the dough into a ball and place back into the mixer bowl, covered with a clean tea towel or lid and leave in a warm spot to rise for about an hour.
You need to ensure the dough has roughly doubled in size and this might take longer in cooler temperatures.
Roughly chop your fruit & nut mix-ins, aiming for 1 cup chopped total - it's ok if amounts aren't exact here. Soak in 1 cup of water while your dough is completing it's first rise.
Using a chunk of Cold Butter, lightly rub the sides and base of a metal loaf pan or bread tin (10cm x 10cm x 21cm), ensuring the surface is thoroghly greased.
Once the dough has risen once, drain the excess water from your fruit and nuts. lightly dust a work surface with rice flour and press the dough out into a rough square. Sprinkle the mix-ins and spices over the surface. With slightly wet hands, Stretch and fold the dough over on itself to mix the fillings through.
Shape the dough into a rectangle roughly the width of your pan by stretching out and folding in the sides. the dough can then be rolled up into a rough loaf-shape placed gently in the greased pan to complete it's final rise. Cover loosely with with a lid or tented clean plastic bag. This rise will take about the same time as the first, and you want to ensure it's fully risen as there won't be a lot of oven rise for this loaf.
Preheat the oven to 200oC when the dough is about half way through it's final rise.
Once ready, bake for 45-60 minutes, or until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.
Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool completely before slicing, at least 2 hours.
Ingredients
Directions
In a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, combine the Basic Dough Ingredients (Flour, Sugar, Yeast, Oil, Salt & Water).
Mix on low speed until everything comes together, then continue to knead for 6-8 minutes. The ball of dough should be smooth and pliable.
Shape the dough into a ball and place back into the mixer bowl, covered with a clean tea towel or lid and leave in a warm spot to rise for about an hour.
You need to ensure the dough has roughly doubled in size and this might take longer in cooler temperatures.
Roughly chop your fruit & nut mix-ins, aiming for 1 cup chopped total - it's ok if amounts aren't exact here. Soak in 1 cup of water while your dough is completing it's first rise.
Using a chunk of Cold Butter, lightly rub the sides and base of a metal loaf pan or bread tin (10cm x 10cm x 21cm), ensuring the surface is thoroghly greased.
Once the dough has risen once, drain the excess water from your fruit and nuts. lightly dust a work surface with rice flour and press the dough out into a rough square. Sprinkle the mix-ins and spices over the surface. With slightly wet hands, Stretch and fold the dough over on itself to mix the fillings through.
Shape the dough into a rectangle roughly the width of your pan by stretching out and folding in the sides. the dough can then be rolled up into a rough loaf-shape placed gently in the greased pan to complete it's final rise. Cover loosely with with a lid or tented clean plastic bag. This rise will take about the same time as the first, and you want to ensure it's fully risen as there won't be a lot of oven rise for this loaf.
Preheat the oven to 200oC when the dough is about half way through it's final rise.
Once ready, bake for 45-60 minutes, or until golden and hollow sounding when tapped.
Remove the loaf from the pan and let cool completely before slicing, at least 2 hours.
Notes
Recipe Notes
If you have an instant read thermometer, you are looking for an internal temperature of around 90oC. However, the method I normally use is to tap and see if it sounds hollow. It’s really tempting to pull it out early but even if it smells amazing – it’s probably still got 15mins or so to go.
If your oven is being tempramental, you may benefit from turning the temperature down to 180oC after the first 10 minutes of cooking time and leaving the loaf in an extra 10 minutes longer. You want the initial heat to boost the yeast and give the loaf it’s spring!
Key Ingredients
