Lincolnshire Plum Bread

My tie to Lincolnshire is pretty tenuous at best.  I've never lived there and to the best of my knowledge I've never visited the area either.  But my 'Uncle' (a close family friend) comes from Lincoln and there we have my tenuous link ;0)

I was passing through the lounge room the other day, the TV on in the background, when I noticed that The Hairy Bikers were on. Before I knew it I was perched on the couch with a cuppa in hand intently watching them make Lincolnshire Plum Bread.  It looked wonderful and I had to taste it straight away.  Of course this meant a trip to the shops to get the required prunes.

Lincolnshire Plum Bread
225g prunes, roughly chopped
50g currants
50g sultanas
150ml Earl Grey tea
450g strong plain flour
125ml milk
6 tbsp soft brown sugar
110g butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp salt
15g dried yeast

Place the dried fruits in a bowl and pour in the Earl Grey tea (I used Lady Grey).  Mix well and leave to soak for 10 mins.

Sift the flour into a large bowl.  Pour the milk into a separate bowl, add the sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla extract, then whisk well to combine.  Add the spices, salt and yeast, whisk once more, then pour on to the flour.  Mix well to form a soft dough.

Strain the fruits, discarding the tea, and add them to the dough.  Knead for 3-6 mins until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Put the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise until doubled in size - about 1-2 hours.  Take the dough out and knead again lightly to knock out the air.  Place in a large loaf tin and leave to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C.  Bake the bread for 40-50 mins until golden and risen.  Allow to cool before slicing and serve with the butter and cheese.

Makes 1 loaf (serves 6-8)
The Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain

This bread is quite yummy and I couldn't wait for it to cool before slicing, I always think bread tastes the best when it is still warm from the oven!  We had it with marg spread over and Hubby had some yesterday toasted with jam for breakfast.  It is similar to the Fruit Bread that I usually make, obvious differences are the types of fruit and that one uses yeast while the other doesn't.  Both are firm favourites with us though, especially in the depths of winter with a cuppa ;0)