Holiday Loaves - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb raisins
4 tbsp dark rum
5 tbsp + 1 cup milk
1 1/3 cup blanched almonds, coarsely chopped
7 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 oz fresh yeast
1 tbsp salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup candied lemon peel, finely chopped
2 oz candied orange peel, finely chopped
1/2 tsp almond oil
1 2/3 lb butter
1 None lemon, zested
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

Drizzle the grapes with the rum and set them aside. Warm 5 tbsp of warm milk, add the almonds and mix them together well. Set them aside. Warm the 1 cup of milk in a saucepan. Sift 1 cup of flour into a bowl and crumble the yeast into it. Gradually stir in the warm milk and mix it into a dough. Cover and keep in a warm place for about 30 mins.
Mix the salt, the rest of the flour, 1 cup of sugar, vanilla extract, lemon and orange peel, almond oil and 1 lb of soft butter in a large bowl. Combine it with the almonds and the dough and knead it by hand into a smooth dough. Fold in the grapes and knead the dough again. Cover and keep in a warm place for 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 325\u00b0F. Knead the dough again, cut it in half and form each piece into an oval loaf. Put them side by side on baking parchment-lined baking tray (with plenty of space between them). Cut a groove along the top of each loaf and bake them for about 1 hour.
Melt the rest of the butter in a small saucepan. Take the cakes out of the oven and brush them with melted butter. Sprinkle them with 1/2 cup of sugar, brush them again with butter and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Spread the remaining butter over the loaves and dust with the powdered sugar. Allow to cool off and store in a cool, dry place for at least 1 week before eating.