Recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour.
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
- 5 cups (approx.) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons crushed aniseed
- 3/4 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup pistachio nuts
- 1/2 cup candied lemon peel
- 1/4 cup candied citron
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest (or 1 teaspoon orange oil)
Preparation:
In a large bowl, stir yeast into water to soften. Add milk, sugar, salt, butter, and 1 cup flour. Beat vigorously for 2 minutes.Combine crushed seeds, raisins, nuts, lemon peel, citron and orange zest or oil; mix well. Add this mixture to the yeast mixture.
Gradually add flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.
Put dough into an oiled bowl. Turn once to coat entire ball of dough with oil. Cover with a towel and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface. Shape into a ball. Punch a large hole in the center and slip the dough over the center post of a well-greased tube pan. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour.
Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the loaf reaches 190°F. Immediately remove from pan and cool on a rack to prevent crust from becoming soggy. Makes 1 loaf.
