Hutzelbrot, Black Forest Fruit Bread - cooking recipe

Ingredients

250 g dried pears
250 g dried plums
125 g dried figs
30 g dates (or a mix of both equaling 30g total) or 30 g raisins (or a mix of both equaling 30g total)
125 g walnuts, chopped
250 g flour
25 g fresh yeast
100 g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground aniseed
1 teaspoon ground ground cloves
1 pinch allspice

Preparation

Soak pears in warm water for 3 hrs, cut into strips, then boil in the same water for 20 mins until soft. Drain and keep the cooking water.
- Put the flour into a large bowl
- Dissolve the yeast in 2 tbsp of the cooking water, then add to the flour
- mix all ingredients and knead well. Then shape into 3 loaves.
- Leave to prove for 2 hours.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 175\u00b0 C (350\u00b0 F) (gas mark 3) for 1 hour.