No Knead Overnight Sourdough Fruit Bread

You might have noticed my fruit bread on my recent cake fail post.  I wanted something easy and indulgent for my birthday breakfast.  My idea of breakfast heaven is a slice of good fruit bread.  So I finally got around to adapting my favourite overnight sourdough bread to a fruit bread recipe.  Easy and delicious!  Perfect!

All I did was add lots of dried fruit and just a little honey and spice to my usual recipe.  It smelled wonderful as it baked.  The final loaf was pleasingly rustic and tasted wonderful.    It is a beautiful thing to wake up to a fresh loaf of bread on the kitchen table.

The loaf was far more dense than my usual plain loaves of bread but I love dense bread.  Most of it went into the freezer.  Having a slice toasted and buttered each morning was luxury.  It had enough fruit to be sweet enough with just some butter.

However if you want something more fancy, it is great with cream cheese, jam, cashew cheese or slices of cheese.  And it is delicious at any time of day.

I am delighted this recipe worked as a fruit bread.  It is such an easy and forgiving recipe.  I make the plain loaves quite regularly and always make two at a time.  One of these days I will try dividing the dough to make one plain and one fruit bread.  That, of course, will be a day when I have more energy.

More yeast/sourdough and dried fruit recipes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Cranberry nut rolls
Freshly fruited yeast bread
Fruit mince scrolls (v)
Pumpernickel rolls with currants (v) 
Sourdough hot cross buns
Vegan sourdough hot cross buns with marzipan (v) 

Sourdough fruit bread 
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe
with guidance from Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and Milk and Honey
makes 2 loaves

350g of sourdough starter
500g water
18g salt
1 tbsp honey (or other sweetener)
1 tsp mixed spice
100g walnuts
150g sultanas
75g cranberries
150g chopped dried apricots
1 kg flour

A few hours before making the loaf, take sourdough starter out of the fridge and feed it so it gets nice and bubbly.  Also you can soak dried fruit in hot water if desired.  If so drain before using in bread dough.

About half an hour before going to bed (or first thing in the morning) mix everything together.  It is easiest to mix everything except flour first and then add flour.  Use hands to mix if required.  Set aside covered with a tea towel for half an hour.  Knead in the bowl for about 1 minute.  Cover with greased clingwrap and leave at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours.

Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured board.  Very gently without punching the air out, fold the dough in three.  Cut the dough in half and shape into two loaves.  Place on a floured surface and cover with the lightly greased clingwrap.  (Maize flour is great here.)  Set aside to rise for 30 minutes.  While the loaves rise, preheat oven to 240 C, with casserole dishes heating if you are using them.

Slash the loaves and put in the heated casserole dishes with lids on (or on a tray or in a tin).   (They don't need greasing.)  Bake for 20 minutes with lid on.  Remove lid and bake another 20 minutes.  Then reduce oven heat to 180 C and return to oven for another 10 minutes to make sure the crust is crispy and golden brown.  Cool your loaves on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing.

NOTES: For more extensive notes on this method, go to my post on overnight sourdough bread.  Update: since making this bread I had made quite a few fruit breads and if I make this again I would add a few tablespoons of olive oil for softness and also soak the fruit first which also keeps it from drying out.

On the Stereo:
A Short Album about Love - The Divine Comedy