Prune And Walnut Fruit Loaf

4.56 from 9 votes

Prune And Walnut Fruit Loaf

A plaited wholemeal fruit loaf sweetened with honey and filled with prunes and walnuts. It's made with yeast and baked in a hot oven. Delicious and nutritious, it's lovely spread with butter and fabulous toasted. Perfect for both breakfast and afternoon tea and it makes a great festive cheese board accompaniment too.

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Proving Time1

Total Time2

Course: Afternoon Tea

Cuisine: British

Keyword: bread, honey, prunes, walnuts, yeast

Servings: slices

Calories: 130kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Ingredients

15 g dried active yeast (not fast-action yeast)
300 ml milk + extra for brushing
2 tbsp honey
500 g strong wholemeal flour
1 ½ tsp sea salt
100 g soft prunes
75 g walnuts

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Place the yeast in a large mixing bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, if using.
15 g dried active yeast
Warm the milk in a pan over a low heat until it's tepid. Pour it onto the yeast and whisk until the yeast is dissolved.
300 ml milk
Add one teaspoon of the honey and whisk again.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave for fifteen minutes to froth.
Meanwhile toast the walnuts in a dry frying pan over a moderate heat for five minutes or so.
75 g walnuts
Add the remaining honey, flour and salt and mix until everything is combined. I use my stand mixer for this. If the mixture is a bit stiff, add another tbsp or two of milk, a little at a time, until you get a soft, but not particularly sticky consistency.
2 tbsp honey, 500 g strong wholemeal flour, 1 ½ tsp sea salt
Either turn out onto a work surface and knead well for ten minutes or knead for five minutes in a stand mixer. If kneading by hand, you shouldn't need to flour your work surface. If you find the dough is sticking too much, however, oil the surface rather than using flour.
Roughly chop the walnuts and either snip the prunes with a pair of scissors into small pieces or chop them with a knife.
100 g soft prunes
Add to the dough and knead for a further minute until everything is thoroughly combined.
Divide the dough into three equal pieces and roll each one into a long fat sausage shape measuring around 30 cm (12 inches).
Pinch the ends of the three strands together, then plait them, pinching them together at the end. Tuck both ends under to create a neat (ish) loaf.
Place on a lightly oiled baking tray, cover with a large plastic bag and leave to rise for about an hour or until nearly doubled in size. Time taken will depend on room temperature and how active the yeast is.
When the bread is rising well, preheat the oven to 200℃ (180℃ fan, 400℉, Gas 6).
As soon as the loaf is well risen, brush the top and sides with milk.
Bake on the middle shelf for about thirty minutes or until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the underside.
Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and slice when cool.

Notes

You can make this bread as a straight loaf rather than a plaited one if you prefer. Either bake it in a greased 900g (2 lb) bread tin or leave it freestyle.

Top Tip

Half fill a tin of water and place on the bottom shelf of the oven at the same time you put the bread in to bake. The steam will help the bread to rise and stay soft.

Vegan Fruit Loaf

It's quite easy to make this fruit loaf vegan. Simply swap the milk for a creamy plant based milk and the honey for maple syrup, date syrup or agave nectar.

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition