I usually don't eat much of the breads I bake. I love baking them and the rest of the family loves eating them, but I usually only have a slice or two from each pair of loaves. This bread was different. I couldn't get enough of it! And when the end of the last loaf started to go a bit stale, it made phenomenal bread pudding.

Spicy Currant Bread

From the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried currants
• 2 c. apple juice
• 1/3 c. (17g) wheat bran¹
• 1 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1/2 c. warm water
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast
• 1/4 c. oil
• 2 Tbsp. molasses
• 830g hard (bread/strong/high grade) whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 tsp. (14g) coarse sea salt
• extra juice and/or water

Directions

1. Rinse the currants.
2. Add the currants to the apple juice and simmer for five minutes.
3. Drain the currants reserving the juice.
4. Add water to the juice to bring the volume back up to 2 c.
5. Stir the bran and allspice into the juice. Cover and set aside to cool for an hour or two or as long as overnight.
6. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
7. Stir the oil and molasses into the juice mixture.
8. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
9. Make a well in the centre of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture as well as the apple juice mixture.
10. Gradually incorporate the flour into the liquids, working from the centre outward.
11. Knead for 15-20 minutes, then work in the currants.
12. Shape dough into a ball and place in a covered bowl to rise.
13. When dough no longer returns a 1cm deep wet fingerprint it is ready to be knocked back. Knead it a few strokes and return it to its covered bowl to rise again.
14. Once the second rise is complete, knock it back again and divide into two equal portions.
15. Round each portion, stretch the gluten tight across the top surface, cover, and set aside for at least 10 minutes.
16. Shape each portion into a loaf by flattening it, folding it into thirds, and rolling it up. Place in greased loaf pans.
17. Cover and allow to rise until fingerprint is only gently returned. (This usually takes ~45 minutes for me, but will vary with the temperature of your room.)
18. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~45 minutes.

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¹ I didn't have any wheat bran, so I just used a bit of oat bran instead. ^Back