Lembas Bread! (Makes 24)

This recipe has been a long time coming so sorry that it's so overdue!

Ingredients

Fruit Base

200g dried sultanas

100g dried cranberries

50ml whiskey

3 tbsp dark muscovado sugar

Zest of 2 oranges and the juice of 1

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp honey

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp mixed spice

Half a tsp mild chilli powder

Bread Mix

525g flour

3 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp honey

7g instant yeast (with pinch of sugar and 1 tbsp water)

2 tsp ginger

3 tbsp sumac

1 tsp baking powder

50 ml semi skimmed milk

200 ml water

200g unsalted butter

Honey to brush

Method

1. Mix the fruit base ingredients together in a bowl and leave to sit overnight.

2. Mix your flour, ginger, sumac and sugar together. Then mix your yeast with a pinch of sugar and 1 tbsp water.

3. Add the yeast mix to the seasoned flour along with your milk, honey and water.

4. Mix together till a shaggy dough forms then tip out onto a floured work surface and knead for 10-15 minutes until elastic and no longer shaggy.

5. Leave to rise in an oiled bowl overnight.

6. The next day, drain your fruit mix then roll out your dough into a rough rectangle. Next roll out your butter so that it roughly the same height but a third of the width of your dough. Place it in the centre of your dough and fold the third's on each side over it, before rolling back to the same thickness. This is your first turn.

7. For the second turn incorporate a half of the fruit into the dough. Then rotate it 90 degrees clockwise.

8. For the third turn simply fold over the dough adding nothing and rotate again.

9. For the fourth turn incorporate the other half of your fruit. Roll and rotate.

10. The fifth and final turn should incorporate nothing. Make sure all the ingredients are remaining within the dough.

11. Trim the edges of the dough and cut it into 24 small squares. Place these on greased and floured baking trays in the fridge and leave to rest for 1 hour. During this time preheat an oven to 180C fan or 200C conventional.

12. Cook the lembas bread for roughly 20-25 mins or until golden brown on top, risen and flaky. Take out of the oven and brush with honey before leaving to cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Signed A Shipwrecked Coffee Addict