Sweet bread

Envious as we are of those of you with an "artisan bakery" within walking distance, we have grown accustomed to the joy of home bread making and enjoy all the more the occasional pleasure of glorious bread by master bakers, such as Robert Swift and Phil Clayton
But we are busy people, so our daily bread is generally a basic white or brown loaf. Nothing wrong with that, but come the weekend it's nice to treat ourselves.

This is a sweetened dough, spiked with candied lemon peel and lightly spiced with cardamom.  Delicious, still slightly warm from the oven, with cold butter and marmalade and if you don't scoff the lot in a single sitting any leftovers make fantastic pain perdu or bread and butter pudding.  

I used my food processor to mix the dough - but this can, of course, be made by hand.

1 teaspoon dried yeast
50g sugar
1 teaspoon salt
200ml tepid milk
70g melted butter
450g strong white bread flour
2 eggs
40g chopped candied lemon peel
20g poppy seeds
8 - 10 cardamom pods, dehusked and the seeds crushed.
Marmalade

Method 1
Place all the ingredients in a food processor and mix until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Method 2
Add the yeast to the milk and stir to mix thoroughly.
Beat the eggs and add to the milk, then add the melted butter.
Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to distribute the peel and seeds evenly.
Add the liquid and bind together.  Turn out on a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.

Once the dough is mixed, cover with a damp cloth or oiled clingfilm (we prefer not to use plastic if we can help it, so a wet tea towel is our go to cover) and leave for at least an hour until it has doubled in size. 
"Knock back" the dough to remove any large air bubbles.  This simply means kneading and folding the dough until the bubbles are dispersed. Cover it again and leave for another 30 minutes, while you pre-heat the oven to 190ºC
Place your baking sheet or griddle plate in the oven to heat up as the oven heats up.

Carefully remove the baking tray from the oven and place the loaf on it.  Return to the oven for 30 - 40 minutes, until well risen, golden and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.  Transfer to a cooling rack
While it is still warm, brush the top with marmalade for a gloriously glossy and sumptuously sticky finish.

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www.netherton-foundry.co.uk