Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

I came up with this one whilst attempting to put a loafy spin on the classic cinnamon bun recipe. I started off keeping it quite conventional, but as nearly always happens my impish side took over and I couldn’t help but bedevil it with lashings of melted butter and sugar. The result is somewhere between a cinnamon fruit loaf and a lardy cake, perfect sustenance for a cold winters day!

Prep time: 30 Mins (Plus some proving time)

Baking time: 30 Mins

10g Fresh Yeast

75g Caster Sugar

200ml Tepid Water

1/2tsp Salt

300g Strong White Plain Flour (Plus extra for dusting)

75g Unsalted Butter (Softened)

75g Mixed Fruit

2tsp Cinnamon (Plus an extra spinkling)

This loaf is great fun to make! Crumble the fresh yeast into a large bowl with 10g of the sugar. Pour over the water and mix about with a fork to blend in the yeast. Add in the salt, followed by the flour and bring the mixture together with a wooden spoon. As it forms a dough tip out onto a clean dry surface, then knead for 6-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. If the dough is too wet or dry after 3-4 mins, you can work in a little more flour or water, but that quantity has worked fine for me so far. Once the dough is smooth and elastic, dust with a little flour, place back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm place for about 60 minutes, until doubled in size.

When the dough has risen, transfer onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a long rectangle, no more than 20cm in width. Melt 60g of the butter and brush liberally all over the dough. Sprinkle over the cinnamon and fruit, followed by nearly all of the sugar (keep about 2 tsp back). Roll the dough into a big sausage, tuck the ends under to seal and place into a greased 20cm loaf tin. Cover again with a damp tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and remove the tea towel from the top of the tin. Melt the last of the butter and brush over the top of the risen dough. Sprinkle over the last of the sugar and a little more cinnamon, then bake in the centre of the oven for around 30 minutes, until golden brown on top. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Boom, all done!