This festive holiday bread is similar to the sweets sold in the Christmas markets of southern Germany. Studded with dried fruit and hazelnuts, this easy bread machine recipe tastes great with coffee or mulled wine.
PREP TIME 10 minutesminutes
COOK TIME 3 hourshours
TOTAL TIME 3 hourshours10 minutesminutes
YIELD 12-pound loaf
Ingredients
1cupmilk
1/3cupwater
3tbspbuttersoftened
2tbspkirschcherry brandy
4cupsbread flour
3tbspsugar
1tspsalt
1 1/2tsppie spiceapple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, or your favorite baking spice blend that features cinnamon
1 1/4tspactive dry yeast
2/3cupraisins
1/2cupchopped hazelnuts
For the Glaze:
2/3cuppowdered sugar
1/2tspvanilla
2-3tspmilk
Instructions
Bread machines each have their own instructions, be sure to follow the method from your machine's manual for adding the ingredients.
Typically, a bread machine will suggest you add the wet ingredients to the bread bowl first, followed by the dry ingredients. Layer the ingredients into the bowl in order of the list from milk through the pie spice. Make a small well in the top of the flour to place the dry yeast. Reserve the raisins and nuts for the moment.
Select the 2-pound loaf size and the basic white bread cycle on your machine and press START.
MIXING IN THE RAISINS AND NUTS: Add the reserved raisins and nuts during the mix-in portion of the cycle on your machine. If your bread machine doesn't have a bell to alert you to the mix-in step, wait until the dough has formed a solid ball and the machine is kneading the bread dough. This should happen before the first rise.
NOTE: To ensure the fruit & nuts are evenly distributed throughout the bread, you may want to remove the dough ball and knead them even farther into the dough by hand for a few minutes. Then, return the dough to the machine to finish the baking process.
The machine we tested this recipe on baked the bread in 3 hours, timing may vary by your machine.
TO MAKE THE GLAZE:
Add the powdered sugar and vanilla to a small bowl. Add just 2 teaspoons of milk to the bowl and begin to mix it together with a fork.
For a decorative thick glaze: If you want to pipe pretty patterns on top of the bread, leave the glaze extra-thick. Transfer the thick glaze to a pastry bag with a frosting tip to decorate the top of the cooled bread loaf.
For an all-over glaze: Add the third teaspoon of milk if you want an all-over glaze. Spread it over the top of the loaf while it is still slightly warm and it will drizzle down the sides.
Recipe Notes
Substitutions for Kirsch
If you can't find kirsch, a cherry brandy, or prefer not to use it, you can substitute with cherry juice, cherry preserves, or Framboise--a raspberry brandy.