Fruit and Nut Harvest Bread

This true tea bread is flavoured with pine nuts for a unique nutty twist. This recipe makes two loaves, save the spare for a rainy day to enjoy toasted, slathered with butter and a cup of freshly brewed Nerada tea.

Ingredients

• 435ml freshly made black Nerada tea
• 90 g butter
• 125 ml honey
• 90 g rolled oats
• 90 g sultanas, optional
• 1 tspn salt
• 14 g dried yeast
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 30g pine nuts plus 10g extra for crust
• Up to 775 g plain flour
• Extra rolled oats for crust

Method

1. Rinse out a large ceramic bowl with boiling water to heat it, and dry.
2. Brew the Nerada black tea for 5 minutes and and strain 250ml into the heated bowl, adding 125ml of boiling water to dilute.
3. Put sultanas (if using) in a cup, and pour over 60ml of tea and allow to soak to one side until required.
4. Add butter, honey, oats and salt to the hot tea and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
5. When the mixture has cooled to body temperature, sprinkle over the yeast, stir well then add the cooled sultanas and most of the 2 beaten eggs, reserving a little for the glaze. Continue stirring with the wooden spoon, add pine nuts and 310g of the flour. Mix thoroughly. Add another 310g of flour until it becomes difficult to work with the spoon, then work into a ball using your hands.
6. Turn onto a floured surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. Add only enough of the remaining flour to prevent sticking during kneading.
7. Warm the original bowl with boiling water again, dry and lightly grease with oil or butter. Place the kneaded dough inside, turn over to grease on all sides, cover loosely with clingfilm and a towel, and leave in a warm place to double in size (about 1 hour, or more if it is cold).
8. Turn dough out onto a floured board, punch down, knead again for another 2-3 minutes, then divide into 2 halves. Shape into long, fat shapes to fit inside loaf tins.
9. Grease 2 bread tins, and sprinkle some of the extra rolled oats inside so that they stick to the sides. Place dough in, cover loosely with clingfilm and a towel, and leave in a warm place until double in size again (about 45 minutes). They should rise to or above the top of the tins.
10. Preheat oven to 190ºC, brush the tops of the loaves with the reserved beaten egg, gently press on some extra pine nuts and sprinkle with more rolled oats.
11. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce to 170ºC, and cook for a further 25-30 minutes until the loaves are golden. Turn them around hallway to ensure even baking. To test if done, the loaves should come easily from the tin, and will sound hollow if tapped.
12. Cool and serve sliced and buttered with your favourite Nerada tea.

Image Source: Pinterest