Almond Tea Fruit Bread

This gorgeous soft fruit loaf is excellent for breakfast and superb for toast.

Ingredients make 1 loaf

1 tbls Dilmah Italian Almond tea leaves (6g)

25 g brown sugar

350 g boiling water

1 tbls mixed spice (7g)

1 packet of instant dried yeast (7g)

10 g salt

40 ml vegetable oil

640 g white bread flour

200 g sultanas

30 g almond flakes

Method

Place tea leaves and sugar in a mortar, grind with the pestle. Add boiling water and mix. Allow cooling before placing in a large mixing bowl. Add mixed spice and yeast and combine. Add oil and flour, mix until even. Knead the dough by hand or machine until smooth. Add sultanas and almond flakes. Rest covered for approx. 60 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a lightly floured kitchen table. Deflate the dough and shape the dough into a log.  Roll the bread in sesame seeds and place the dough in a greased 10 x 10 x 28 cm Pullman tin. Place a towel on top and let the dough rise until 1 cm from the top approx. 70 minutes. Preheat oven to 200ºC. Remove the towel and place the lid on the tin. Place the tin in the middle of the oven and bake for approx. 40 minutes. Remove the bread from the tin and allow cooling for at least 30 minutes on a wire rack before cutting.

Note: Try rolling the dough in other or grain such as poppy seeds or oats.