Barmbrack: Ireland'S Traditional Halloween Fruit Bread.

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   ["Put the dried fruit into a bowl. Cover with hot tea and leave to plump up overnight or at least a few hours.", "In the morning, drain the liquid and reserve it in a measuring jug to be used later. Set fruit aside.", "It's not necessary, but it helps, if all utensils and bowls are warm before starting to make a Barmbrack. This facilitates the rising of the dough. If not, you should factor in slightly more time for the dough to rise.", "Sieve the flour, sugar, spices, and salt into a large mixing bowl or the warmed bowl of your electric mixer.", "Make up 1/2 a pint of liquid using the reserved tea and topping up the mixture to 1/2 a pint with cold milk.", "Mix the yeast with 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of tepid milk and leave for 4-5 minutes, until it becomes creamy and slightly bubbly.", "Melt the butter, then pour it into the cold milk-tea mixture and stir till the butter forms into little lumps. Add the egg to the mixture.", "Pour the tea-milk-egg mixture, and the yeast mixture, into the bowl with the dry ingredients. Knead well, either by hand or in an electric mixer at High speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be quite stiff, but elastic.", "Incorporate the plumped fruit into the dough. To do this, I rolled out the dough then spread the fruit over it. Fold the dough in half, then half again, and gently knead the fruit into the dough until it is quite evenly distributed.", "Return to the bowl. Cover with a clean, warm cloth or dishtowel and leave in a warm place until the dough has risen and doubled in size (about one hour).", "Gently knead again for about 2-3 minutes. Cut mixture in half and shape into two rounds (or grease two 5x8"" loaf tins if you would prefer loaves). Add the ring, and any of the trinkets listed, tucking them well in and ensuring they are hidden by the dough. Cover again and leave to rise for another 45 minutes until well puffed up.", "Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown and fully cooked. You can place a tinfoil ""hat"" on top if it looks like the bread is getting too dark.

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   OPTIONAL: Brush the bread with a Sugar Glaze and return to the oven for 2-3 minutes. This gives the bread a lovely sugary, stickybun glow.", "Turn out on a wire wrack to cool for 20 minutes. Cut into thick slices and see who gets the wedding ring! Can be served warm, cool or toasted but always with plenty of butter!"]

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