Spiced loaf with dried fruit

Name: Spiced loaf with dried fruit
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: Mix of dried fruits peanuts, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts 0.9 cup; Pumpkin seeds 2 tbsp; Cinnamon powder ¾ tsp; Dried prunes 3.5 oz; Dried apricots 3.5 oz; Baking powder 4 tsp; Eggs 3; Type 00 flour 2 cups; Extra virgin olive oil 6 tbsp; Sugar 0.9 cup; Whole milk 2 oz

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 60 min
Serving: 8

PRESENTATION

Spiced Loaf with Dried Fruit earns its place on the breakfast table through texture as much as flavor. Pumpkin seeds folded into the batter hold their crunch against a genuinely soft crumb, so each slice has a quiet snap where the fruit is chewy and the dough gives way. It is the kind of spiced fruit loaf that fills the kitchen with the smell of cinnamon long before it comes out of the oven — warm and fragrant without being fussy, and simple enough to put together on a slow autumn morning for the whole family.

Prunes and apricots handle the sweetness; cinnamon does the rest, warm without being loud. The contrast between the soft crumb and the chew of the dried fruit is what makes it work slice after slice. It keeps well on the counter, holds up to a morning coffee just as easily as it does to an afternoon tea, and disappears faster than expected — the mark of a straightforward homemade bake that does not need much more than a good loaf tin and a little patience while it cools.

How to prepare Spiced loaf with dried fruit

To prepare the spiced loaf with dried fruit, first chop the dried fruit mix 1, then cut the apricots into small pieces 2 and the plums 3.

Beat the eggs with the sugar 4 and the cinnamon 5 using electric beaters 6, until the mixture is frothy.

Slowly pour in the oil 7 and the milk 8. Then mix the flour and the baking powder in a bowl 9.

Sift the dry ingredients into the batter little by little 10, always mixing with the beaters. At the end, also add the apricots, the plums, the dried fruit mix 11, and finally the hulled pumpkin seeds 12.

With a spatula mix the batter 13 and pour it into an oiled and floured 10 1/4 x 4 1/3 in loaf pan 14 15.

With an oiled knife, make a cut along the center of the batter 16: this will allow the loaf to rise evenly during baking. Bake in a preheated conventional oven for 60 minutes at 356°F. Do the toothpick test before taking it out. Let it cool well 17 and then serve your spiced loaf with dried fruit 18.