Saffron cardamom bread with dates and pecans
Taken from "VEG: simple, stylish and seasonal vegetarian cooking" by Catherine Mason (Pauntley Press, 2001, ISBN: 0-9534879-2-8, price £12.99)
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A festive morning bread, golden and fragrant with exotic spices – this is a lovely way to start the day on a holiday weekend. Best eaten warm from the oven with butter, it also toasts well. Like my other bread recipes, this dough is easily made in a bread machine, in which case add the fruit and nuts near the end of the kneading time to avoid crushing them. Although I make the dough in a machine I usually shape it by hand and bake in the oven.
If you want this bread freshly baked for breakfast, the dough can be made the night before, given a long, cool rising overnight, and given its second rising in the morning. Like most breads it freezes quite well.
The bread
- generous pinch of saffron threads
- seeds from 20 cardamom pods, finely ground
- 310 g (11 oz) strong white bread-flour
- 1 level teaspoon salt
- 1 heaped tablespoon sugar
- ½ level teaspoon fast action yeast
- 1 tablespoon light olive or groundnut oil, plus a little extra
- 30 g (1 oz) chopped pecans
- 60 g (2 oz) chopped dates
Sugar glaze (optional)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
Oven temperature: 180°C (350°F gas 4, adjust for fan ovens).
Put the saffron threads and ground cardamom in a measuring jug and pour on 2-3 tablespoons of boiling water. Leave to soak for about 10 minutes, then top up to 200 ml (7 fl oz) with cold water.
Put the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, oil and saffron liquid into a large mixing bowl and mix well, initially with a wooden spoon, subsequently with your hand. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead vigorously for about 15 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Clean out and oil the mixing bowl and flip the dough back into it, turning it over so that its entire surface is lightly coated with oil. Cover the bowl with a clean, damp tea-towel and leave in a warm, draught-free place (such as an airing cupboard) to rise until approximately doubled in size. How long this takes will depend on the temperature – it may be an hour or more.
Tip the dough out onto a floured surface, flatten it with the palm of your hand and, with a floured rolling-pin, roll it out into a large rectangle about 20 × 30 cm (8 × 12 inches), with one of the short sides facing you.
Distribute the nuts and dates evenly over the dough, then firmly roll it up away from you, Swiss-roll fashion. Brush the edge of the dough with a little cold water and pinch to seal the seam. Place the loaf seam-down on a well-oiled baking sheet. Pinch the ends flat and tuck them underneath, to give a smooth, cushion-shaped loaf.
Cover with a damp tea-towel again and leave to rise in that warm, draught-free place, until doubled in height a second time. The second rising should be slightly quicker than the first.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-35 minutes, until the top is golden and crisp. When it looks almost done, you may want to slide the bread off the baking sheet and place it directly on the oven shelf for 2 or 3 minutes, just to make sure the base is cooked and crisp. The base should be slightly browned and should have a hollow sound when tapped with your knuckles. Cool on a wire tray.
For a glossy finish, brush the loaf with sugar glaze immediately after you take it out of the oven. Make the glaze by heating the sugar and water together in a saucepan until the sugar is completely dissolved. There will be leftover glaze, which can be stored in the fridge for about a month.
MAKES 1 LOAF
Recipe copyright © 2001 Catherine Mason | other sample recipes