Lowell Inn Swiss Pear Bread
Served at the Lowell Inn in Stillwater, Minnesota.
Servings: 1 loaf
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Ingredients
- ½ cup prunes, diced
- ½ cup pears, diced
- ¼ cup raisins
- ¼ cup currants
- ¼ cup citron, diced
- ¼ cup candied orange peel, diced
- ¼ cup candied lemon peel, diced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground anise
- 1 teaspoon whole anise
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 tablespoons dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons prune juice
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon brandy
- 5-6 cups flour
Instructions
- A day in advance, place the first 11 ingredients in a large saucepan. Add water to cover and cook over low heat for half an hour. Drain the fruit and reserve the liquid.
- Stir the yeast into the prune juice and let stand in a warm place (75°, ideally) for 5-7 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place ¼ cup of the warm liquid reserved from the fruits in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter, stirring to melt. Add the yeast mixture, sugar, salt, brandy, and two cups of the flour. Beat well to mix. Continuing to beat hard, add the remaining flour one cup at a time, until the dough forms a ball and sides of the bowl are clean.
- On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough until elastic, about seven to 10 minutes. Roll dough into a rectangle the length of a bread loaf pan. Roll up the width, jellyroll style, to form a loaf shape. Place the dough in a bread loaf pan and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
- Remove pan from refrigerator, recover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for two hours in a warm place.
- Bake in an oven preheated to 300° for one hour. Remove when done and place on a rack to cool. After 10 minutes, remove from pan and allow to cool completely.
