IRISH BARM BRACKE

This Irish spiced bread was traditionally baked with a wedding ring thrown into the dough in the belief that whoever found the ring would be married within the year. Ingredients......650gm of bread flour, plus extra for dusting, 1 tsp of ground mixed spice, 1 tsp of salt, 1 dsp of instant dried yeast, 55gm of brown castor sugar, 300ml of luke warm milk, 150ml of lukewarm water, canola oil for brushing, 55gm of softened butter/ marg, 325gm of mixed fruit. Preheat your oven to 200deg C. Grease a 300cm x 120cm loaf pan. Mix together the flour, mixed spice and salt into a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and water. Mix together well, gradually incorporating the dry ingredients to make a sticky dough. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough till no longer sticky. Brush a clean bowl lightly with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with cling wrap, leave in a warm spot until doubled in size. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead lightly for 1 minute. Add the softened butter/ marg and mixed fruit to the dough and work them in well. Return the dough to the bowl and cover again with cling wrap and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Shape the dough to fit the loaf pan, cover and leave to rise to the top of the pan. Brush lightly with a little extra milk. bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Now reduce the oven temperature to 180 deg C. Loosely cover the the loaf with baking paper and bake for 45 minutes, or until the the loaf is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.