Candied fruit bread with bread maker

I'm really excited about the recipe that Beatriz from To Be Gourmet brings us today, for two reasons. First, because she makes a recipe using the bread maker, which I'm particularly fond of: I've used it a lot, to the point of making bread in it every day, and it also helps me make jams (it has a special program for this, and saves me from having to stir!).

The second reason is that, although I have tried many of the bread recipes in the book that comes with the breadmaker (with many and varied delicious bread recipes, as well as some for cakes, pizza bases or jam), I have never tried it myself. And Beatriz certainly encourages me to do so with this delicious fruit bread, which will be a hit at get-togethers with friends and family!

I'm delighted with the Moulinex bread maker that I've had at home for a few months now. I use it every week to make homemade bread for the kids' lunches, brioche to offer when we have coffee. Tuesday mornings are a regular day for coffee with friends, and it's usually at home. I've also tried making sponge cake from time to time, and more frequently milk bread and small baguettes.

Now that Christmas is approaching and I'm starting to see candied fruit in the shops, I've been tempted to try making a sweet bread with pieces of cherry, pear, orange, plum... and I have to confess that it has ousted my beloved brioche that has given us so much joy.

Pallarès kitchen knife

It is true that brioche is a bit quicker, since in this case you have to spend ten or fifteen minutes chopping up the candied fruit, but... What are ten or fifteen minutes anyway? That's what this kitchen robot has got us so used to...

Ingredients

• 280 ml of milk
• 60 g butter
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 500 g of strong flour
• 20 g fresh yeast (I use Levital)
• 150 g of candied fruit

Preparation

We place the breadmaker 's bowl on a precision scale (I do it this way because it's easier to add the exact amounts, and cancel the previous weight without having to stain anything other than the bowl itself). We add the milk, then the soft butter, salt and sugar.

Next, add the flour and yeast, place the bowl inside the bread maker and select the milk bread program, which in the case of the Moulinex is number 4.

The machine gets to work. Meanwhile, we chop the fruit and set it aside until it beeps about half an hour after starting. We leave them floured so that they don't sink to the bottom when cooking.

When the beep sounds, we can open the bread maker to access the bowl and drop the small fruits onto the dough. You can see how the paddles knead and the fruits are gradually integrated into the mixture.

We close it again and wait for the program to finish. The time will vary depending on the size of the bread (there are three possible sizes and I have chosen the smallest one, which is considerable) and also on the whiter or more golden finish we want to obtain. In our case, (not very golden) it is two hours and fifty minutes.

Moulinex bread maker

Once finished, we let it cool a little before removing the bread. As it tends to get a little stuck on the paddles (the ones that do the kneading) I usually turn them with gentle right/left movements on the base of the bowl (as the mechanism protrudes a little) and this way we get them to come off the bread and make it easier to “unmold”.

All that remains is to wipe the container with a damp cloth and store it for another occasion. It's that easy and simple.

And our bread, a delight and a way to be treated like kings before our guests or our family.