Sultana Crown Loaf Recipe

 

 

Ingredients: (Makes 2 Loaves)

700g of Strong White Bread Flour
7g or 1 Sachet of Allinson Easy Bake, Fast Active Yeast
30g or 1 Ounce of Butter ( I used Willow Butter, which is ideal for baking but I have used Lard in the past instead)
1 1/2 teaspoons of Salt
3 teaspoons of Sugar
200g of Sultanas
400ml of cooled boiled water ( fairly warm but not hot)

( I used an electric whisk with dough hooks attached!)

 

Method:
1. Sieve 700g of Strong White Bread Flour into a large bowl and add the salt and the sugar. Mix well with a whisk (only use the special kneading tools of the whisk).( If you haven't got a whisk you can do all the mixing and kneading by hand but for the first stage of dough preparation I always use the whisk, until the dough becomes too firm and can only be kneaded by hand.)
2. Add the 7g of yeast to the flour, salt and sugar mix and whisk well.
3. Slice the butter and add to the mix. Whisk well...
4. Add 200g of Sultanas, whisk well.
5. While still whisking, gradually add the warm water. Keep whisking on a low setting until the dough becomes firm and most of the flour is consumed.
6. Take the dough out of the bowl and put it on a lightly floured work surface.
7. Knead the dough very hard by hand for up to 10 minutes, hitting, punching and rolling it.
8. After 10 minutes, prepare 2 Bread Tins (If they are not non-stick, you will have to grease them with a little oil or butter) ( For this recipe I used 2 round, metal pie dishes)
9. Form the dough into a long roll and cut into 12 or 13 equal slices.
10. Roll the dough slices in the palm of your hands into balls and place them into the tins. (I usually start with the one in the middle and place the other 5 or 6 balls around them) Don't worry if there are gaps in-between, these will fill out automatically when the dough rises.
11. Grease 2 sheets of cling film with a little butter and place loosely over the dough. Now loosely cover with a tea towel.
12. Leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or even 1 1/2hours, depending on the room temperature.
13. After 1 1/2 hours the dough should have doubled in size; take off tea towels and cling film and place into the oven.
14. Cook on 200 C. for about 25 to 30 minutes. ( I do not pre-heat the oven for this recipe)
15. After 20 minutes, check the loaves; once they have reached a nice brown colour, turn off the oven. I like mine slightly darker than golden brown.
16. Remove loaves from oven and turn them out onto a wire rack.
17. Leave them to cool a little and then use a mix of icing sugar and water for the final glaze. Done!

                
Happy Baking...I hope my recipe is easy to follow and I have explained things properly.
Maria xxx