Bara Brith, Welsh Speckled Bread

The easiest tasty traditional Welsh Bread, lovely with Welsh Butter

Ingredients

500 g Strong White Flour, Shipton Mill Organic is just right

20g Fresh Yeast

7 g Salt

80g soft Welsh Butter

50g light brown caster sugar

2 good tea spoons of mixed spice

350g of dried fruit. Dried Cranberries and raisins work well together, but whatever you fancy. Apricots are ok, but makes a very moist loaf.

1 large Egg

225 ml of luke warm strong tea

Method

• Make a flying sponge with 150g of flour and the yeast, with enough of the tea to make a loose dough. Leave a while until there are some bubbles and its visibly risen. This will give the yeast a good start before the fruit and spice gets added.
• add the rest of the flour and tea and mix together, then add the sponge, mix together well and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• throw everything else in and mix well.
• this is best mixed in a K-mix or Kitchenaid with the dough hooks on as is very moist
• Cover and leave for a couple of hours
• knock back and shape into a good size loaf tin
• leave again to prove for another hour, covered
• bake at 180 for 20 mins then cover with foil for another 25
• leave to cool for 30 mins
• Boil a litle water with some caster sugar to form a syrup and paint the entire loaf
• try not to eat the whole thing in one go!!!

Added by: gary smith

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