Think On It

CandiedFruit

December 12th, 2006

Last week in my supermarket I found this.

It is candied fruit like I’ve never seen before. There is no peel for a start. It consists of strips of larger fruit and whole small fruits, soft and tasting of themselves. There are kiwi, strawberries, cherries, apple, mango, pear. The dark slice at the upper left is blood orange, which I candied myself 3 years ago and then didn’t know what to do with. These are the true sugarplums. Faced with such a delight, something must be done. So I made Sugarplum bread.

I found the recipe in Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook of the 1960s. I’ve never been happy with sweet bread and roll recipes I’ve made before. I even called my friend Barb and asked if she had a recipe she was happy with. Alas, she doesn’t make sweet rolls. I’m on my own.

I believe this is the first really successful sweet bread I’ve made. I don’t know what I’ve done wrong before, but my earlier efforts have been too chewy and flat. This one was neither.

Here’s the recipe, and if you have a day at home, it would make a great gift, especially if you already know where to buy great candid fruit that isn’t just a lot of chewy citrus peel – although I will admit I’ve never minded that in Hot Crossed Buns.

Sugarplum Loaves

2 packages of active dry yeast
½ cup water warm from the faucet
¾ cup milk, scalded
½ cup sugar
¼ cup butter
1 ½ teaspoons salt

4 ¾ to 5 ¼ cups sifted all-purpose flour – 00 flour here
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
2 beaten eggs
1 ½ cups mixed candid fruits, diced

Confectioners’ glaze

Soften the yeast in the warm water – about 110° F or 40° C.

Scald the milk and then add the sugar, salt and butter and allow to cool to tepid. In a large bowl, put the milk and add 2 cups of the flour and the lemon peel, beating it in. I used my strong hand mixer with dough hooks. Add the eggs and beat them in. Stir in the softened yeast. At this point, the recipe says to stir in the fruits, but because I wanted to use the beater, I did not. I, instead, gradually added the rest of the flour, beating it and watching for it to form a soft dough. At that point, I floured the counter and scraped the dough onto it for kneading. I added the fruit pieces in the kneading process, which is some work, but not as difficult as stirring that heavy mass with a wooden spoon. I am slightly handicapped, which is why I use the dough hooks, which didn’t exist in 1960, but you can decide how you want to do it. If you do it like me, knead for about 8 minutes, adding 1/3 of the fruit at a time in the first few minutes. You should end up with a relatively soft dough that springs back when you poke a fingerprint into it.

Butter the inside of another really big bowl, put the ball of dough in it and turn it around so that the surface is lightly buttered all over. Cover it. I used my second largest stainless steel bowl and upended the next size down over the dough. I had preheated the oven to 125° F or 50° C, and I popped the covered dough into it, turned off the heat and shut the door. Over the next hour and a half the perfume of yeast started to fill the house. I checked at 1 ½ hours, looking for doubling, decided patience might pay off, and left it for the whole 2 hours suggested. It had bloomed into a fluffy mound that filled the huge bowl entirely! The bowl is unmarked, but I think it is at least 8 quarts or liters.

I floured my hand and punched it down. This is always a sad moment for me, because I am never sure it will rise again to amaze me once more with the small miracle the yeast plant makes for us. I used my dough scraper to cut it into 2 equal halves, then formed each part into an oval loaf, because my oven is too small to hold two round ones. I lined a flat baking sheet with baking paper, laid the loaves onto it and covered them with another sheet of baking paper. This was put back into the cool oven and left for another 1 ½ hours until doubled again.

Remove the now-glorious breads to the counter and heat the oven to 175° C or 350° F. You may have to take one rack out to make space for it. Slide the loaves in and cook for about 30 minutes. The smells may drive you wild. I had to take the dog for a walk!

When they are done, remove them to cooling racks. At this point, the book says to allow them to cool to slightly warm. Right. Mine made it to touchable.

Mix confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar with enough milk to make a glaze about the consistency of heavy cream. Using a soupspoon, drizzle the glaze over the warm loaves. It’s suggested that you decorate the breads with diced fruit pieces and walnuts. I used the fruits, but they don’t stick very well and I wouldn’t bother another time.

I immediately cut some thick slices and delivered them to Olga’s house. Then I came home and ate three myself. This last is not highly recommended. It isn’t yet Christmas!

The second loaf was put into a giant Ziplock bag when it was thoroughly cooled and carefully placed into the freezer for someone on my goodies list. Who shall it be? When will I return to the store and buy more of this lovely fruit? Because I will. One package will make 2 of these recipes, or 4 loaves. My house should smell this good all winter.

Entry Filed under: Uncategorized, Food, Italy