Cornish Saffron Bread

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •900g loaf tin or baking tray
• •Clean tea towel or cling film
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Steep the saffron

   Warm the milk in a small pan until it's just barely hot to the touch, no more. Take it off the heat. Crumble the saffron threads between your fingers and stir them in. Cover the pan and leave it to sit for at least an hour. Two is better. Overnight is best. The milk will turn the colour of a winter sunset and smell faintly of hay and honey. This is the whole soul of the bread, so don't rush it.

   Buy proper saffron threads, not powder. A small jar from a decent spice merchant will last you years and costs less than you'd think when you work it out by the pinch.
2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Tip the flour, sugar, salt, yeast, mixed spice and lemon zest into a large bowl. Keep the salt and the yeast on opposite sides for a moment, then stir everything together with your hand. Make a well in the middle. Pour in the saffron milk, which should be warm rather than hot, and add the beaten egg. Bring it together with your fingers until it forms a rough, shaggy dough. It will look like nothing much. That's fine.

3. 3

   Work in the butter

   Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few minutes until it starts to come together. Now begin adding the softened butter, a cube at a time, working each piece in before adding the next. The dough will look broken and sticky and you'll think you've ruined it. You haven't. Keep going. After ten minutes or so it will pull itself back together, soft and silky and the colour of an old gold ring.

4. 4

   Add the fruit

   Flatten the dough out and scatter the currants and candied peel over the top. Fold the dough over them and knead gently until the fruit is evenly distributed. Some will fall out. Push it back in. Don't worry about being neat.

   If your currants look dry and tired, soak them in a splash of warm water or weak tea for ten minutes first, then drain them well. Plump fruit makes a better loaf.
5. 5

   First rise

   Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean cloth or cling film, and leave somewhere gently warm to rise. The kitchen counter is fine if the room is cosy. It needs around two hours to double in size. An enriched dough like this rises slowly because the butter and sugar slow the yeast down. Trust your nose. When the bowl smells faintly sweet and yeasty, it's ready.

6. 6

   Shape the loaf

   Knock the dough back gently with your knuckles. Shape it into a fat oval or, if you prefer, divide it into three pieces and plait them together. Lift it into a buttered 900g loaf tin or set it on a parchment-lined baking tray. Cover loosely and leave for another hour to an hour and a half until the dough has puffed up and feels pillowy when you press a finger gently against it.

7. 7

   Bake until golden

   Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Brush the top of the loaf with a little milk and scatter the tablespoon of sugar over it. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. The top will turn a deep, burnished gold and the kitchen will smell of butter and saffron and something faintly festive. Tap the bottom of the loaf when you think it's done. A hollow sound means it's ready. A dull thud means another five minutes.

   If the top is darkening too quickly before the inside is cooked through, lay a piece of foil loosely over it for the last ten minutes.
8. 8

   Cool and slice

   Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack and let it cool. Resist the urge to cut into it straight away. Warm enriched bread tears rather than slices, and you'll lose the structure. Once it's cooled to barely warm, cut a thick slice, butter it generously, and eat it standing at the counter. That first slice is for the cook. Everyone else can wait.

Chef Tips

• •The longer you steep the saffron, the deeper the colour and the more complex the flavour. If you can do it the night before, do. The milk will be the colour of a marigold by morning and the bread will be all the better for it.
• •This bread is best on the day it's made and the day after. After that, it starts to dry out, but it makes spectacular toast. Cut a thick slice, toast it under the grill until the edges go dark, and eat it with cold butter. Some loaves are arguably better as toast than they ever were fresh.
• •Don't be tempted to add more saffron than the recipe calls for. More isn't better with saffron. Past a certain point it turns medicinal and bitter, and you'll have wasted your money. A generous pinch is exactly right.
• •Serve thick slices with cold salted butter for tea. That's the traditional way and there's a reason it's stuck around. The cold butter against the soft crumb is the whole pleasure of the thing.

Advance Preparation

• •Steep the saffron in the warm milk the night before for the deepest colour and flavour. Cover and leave on the counter overnight.
• •The dough can be made the day before and given its first rise slowly in the fridge overnight. Bring it back to room temperature for an hour before shaping and proving as usual.
• •The baked loaf keeps in a tin for two days. After that, slice and toast it, or freeze it whole, well-wrapped, for up to two months.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 98g)