Easter Inspired Fruit Loaf

This Easter inspired fruit loaf recipe will have you enjoying the yummy sweet taste of homemade hot cross buns all year round!

I actually find it strange that I am sharing a recipe for a fruit loaf, because frankly I haven’t been a fan of fruit buns or loaves for some time. I remember enjoying yummy, pink icing covered, fruit buns from the bakery when I was a kid but I haven’t had one like that for years. They just don’t seem to make them as good as they used to, I haven’t eaten a hot cross bun for years – I actually can’t remember the last time I did.

This Easter I started wondering about making my own. I have been making my own white and multigrain bread for a while now using this easy recipe that I found last year. So I am well and truly over my fear of working with yeast. I knew that I could do it I just had to find a great looking recipe!

Just before Easter I came across a recipe for hot cross buns by Karen at Citrus and Candy and it really got my mouth watering. (Note: link to original recipe no longer exists)

I didn’t actually get time to attempt the recipe until after Easter so, since Easter was over, I decided to make the recipe into a fruit loaf instead of buns. The recipe is large enough that I made two generous sized loaves. We got stuck into one and sliced the other up and put it in the freezer for later!

I also made a couple of other minor adjustments to the recipe. Firstly I used mixed fruit in my version, but you could just use raisins or sultanas if you don’t like peel.

Secondly each fruit loaf was glazed with a simple sugar glaze. The original recipe called for the hot cross buns to be glazed with apricot jam. I didn’t have any apricot jam so I used the basic sugar glaze instead. This actually resulted in the loaves being quite sticky so in future I would probably omit the glaze – doesn’t really need it anyway!

The result was fantastic – actually it blew me away! I can’t get enough of this fruit loaf now. When I first tasted it I immediately said “this is how I remember fruit buns used to taste!”

We have been enjoying slices of it with butter for morning tea but it is also awesome toasted. I think that I will be having this for breakfast tomorrow!

Easter Inspired Fruit Loaf

 

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Prep time

90 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

1 hour 55 mins

 

This Easter inspired fruit loaf recipe will have you enjoying the yummy sweet taste of homemade hot cross buns all year round!

Author: The Links Site

Recipe type: Breakfast, Snack

Cuisine: Bread

Serves: 24 (12 slices per fruit loaf)

Ingredients

• 300ml milk
• 60g caster sugar
• 1 heaped tablespoon (approx. 15g) of dried yeast
• 600g plain flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 60g of softened butter
• 2 cups (350g) mixed fruit
• 2 eggs
  

Instructions

1. Put the milk in a microwave safe bowl and heat on high in 10 second bursts until it is just warm.
2. Add the sugar and yeast to the milk and whisk to combine – cover this mixture with a tea towel and set aside for about 10 minutes or until it is frothy.
3. Sift the flour into a large bowl and then also add the salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg – roughly mix.
4. Chop the butter roughly into squares and add this to the flour – use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour until there are no lumps of butter left.
5. To the flour mix add the mixed fruit, eggs and the frothy yeast/milk mixture and stir to combine.
6. Turn the mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for around 5 minutes – until it all comes together and is smooth and elastic.
7. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl that has been lightly greased, then roll the dough round in the bowl so the dough also becomes greasy - preventing it from sticking.
8. Cover the bowl with cling wrap and place in a warm place for around 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
9. Remove the cling wrap and punch the air out of the dough before turning it out onto a floured surface and lightly kneading.
10. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape each into a short log.
11. Place the dough into two standard loaf tins and cover and place in a warm place for 15 – 20 minutes (while waiting preheat the oven to 200°C/400 °F).
12. Place the loaves into the oven and bake for 25 minutes – bread will be cooked when a hollow sound is heard when the loaf is tapped.

Notes

Sugar Glaze (Optional)
¼ cup of sugar
¼ cup of water

Bring the sugar and water to a low simmer and stir until the sugar is all dissolved before removing from the heat. Brush the loaves with the sugar glaze while they are still warm.

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