The Ideal Christmas Breakfast

Cinnamon and raisin fruit loaf - www.flickr.com [Desktop Resolution]

One of an ideal menu that should be prepared during the Christmas breakfast is the Cinnamon and raisin fruit loaf which is a simple breakfast menu to prepare during Christmas morning along with croissants or eggs and muffins. The combination of the mentioned menu will definitely brings in an added joy to your breakfast during Christmas celebration. It can also be frozen and when it is required, you can just toast it.

What you need:

  1. 30g dried cherries
  2. 125g mixed golden sultanas and raisins
  3. 50g dried apricots, finely chopped
  4. 250ml strong Lady Grey tea, cold
  5. 400g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  6. 7g sachet (2 tsp) active dried yeast
  7. 1 tea spoon of ground cinnamon
  8. 2 table spoon of caster sugar, plus extra for dusting
  9. ½ tea spoon of salt
  10. Grated zest of one orange
  11. 55g butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus a little extra for brushing
  12. 1 medium free-range egg, beaten
  13. 150ml full-fat milk, warmed
  14. Oil, for greasing

Brief Background:

  1. First of all, you need to place the ingredients such as the cherries, sultanas, raisins and apricots into a large size bowl, pour over the tea and leave it to steep for at least two hours before you drain it well.
  2. Then, sift the flour also into a large bowl before adding yeast, cinnamon, sugar, salt and also orange zest. After that, you need to stir it well through the centre and set aside.
  3. Use another bowl to pour in the combination of butter, egg and milk. Then, you need to pour it well in the flour mixture that you have made earlier. Always use a wooden spoon in order to mix the ingredients to become soft dough. When you noticed that the dough nearly come together, you can add it together with the fruit ingredients that you have make earlier.
  4. You need to place it onto a lightly floured surface enabling you to knead for ten minutes until the dough becomes elastic and smooth. If it is too sticky, you need to add a little extra flour.
  5. After that, you need to place the dough into a large and well-oiled bowl before covering with well-oiled cling film and leave it in a warm place for at least 45 minutes. Then, you have to transfer it to a lightly floured surface and shape the dough making it an oblong or round shape, and put it into a lightly greased and floured 900g loaf tin. You also need to cover it using an oiled cling film and just leave it to rise for approximately 30 minutes.
  6. You need to pre-heat the oven with range of temperature such as 200 degrees Celsius, 180 degrees fan or use gas oven. Then, brush the bread with melted butter and a little bit of sugar before baking it at least for 25 minutes until you notice its top becomes golden brown, while the loaf makes hollow sound when it is tapped on the bottom.
  1. This type of menu provides us with nutritional values such as 292kcals, 7.7g of fat (4.1g saturated), 7.4g of protein, 51.5g of carbs, 18.2g of sugar and 0.4g of salt.

Additional Reading:
http://busycooks.about.com/od/christmas/a/Christmasbreakf.htm
http://entertaining.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_best_christmas_morning_menus_with_recipes

http://www.catalogs.com/info/food/recipes-for-christmas-breakfast.html
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/articles/a-christmas-breakfast-menu

Recipe Link:
http://www.deliciousmagazine.co.uk/recipes/cinnamon-and-raisin-fruit-loaf

Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/turtlemom_nancy/2739271994/