So I never got around to making that batch of Christmas biscotti, and the panettone somehow never happened in the end either, which means there was a quantity of leftover candied peel and dried fruit in the cupboard which were begging to be used. And use them I did, in a light light tea loaf which with only 40g butter and 40g sugar is even legal in Austerity January (unless of course you slather your slice with butter....).
The basic recipe is Paul Hollywood's tea loaf (I tend to go more and more to him for my basic recipes), though I spiced it up with some ground cardamom and cinnamon in the dough, a lot more dried fruit than he is using as well as some candied peel, did away with the icing (it is January after all!) and baked it in a tin since his doughs tend to be quite wet and thus a pain to shape and keep in shape.
Antje's Post-Christmas Version of Paul Hollywood's Tea Loaf
120ml warm milk
10g dried yeast
40g sugar (caster is fine, but demerara tastes nicer)
400g strong white flour
40g softened butter
pinch of salt
half a teaspoon each of ground cardamom and cinnamon
a handful each of sultanas, chopped dried apricots, chopped dried figs, chopped candied peelWarm milk with the sugar and add yeast, leave to stand for 10 minutes until foamy. Add salt and spices to the flour and combine with the yeasty milk into a dryish dough, then knead in the butter and work until smooth (I use a hand mixer with dough hooks). Leave to rest for an hour in a warm spot.
Grease and flour a loaf tin. Add the dried fruit to the dough and knead until well combined, form a rough log shape and put into the tin. Leave loaf to rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 200°, and bake loaf for 30 minutes (cover with foil if the top starts to look too dark).
Slice and slather with butter (or not), and enjoy!
