Hutzel Wecken

A fruit-laden bread, traditional for Chanukah, from the Alsace-Lorraine region on the French/German border. Slice it thin and serve with excellent butter or a creamy cheese. Adapted from a recipe in _Quiches, Kugels and Couscous_ by Joan Nathan, as published by Caroline Russock at Serious Eats. http://bit.ly/h76Ysw

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Yields: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• 2  cups  chopped  dried pears
• 1  cup  chopped pitted dried plum (prunes)
• 1  cup golden raisin
• 1  cup dried currant
• 1  cup  roughly chopped dried fig
• 1  cup  roughly chopped pitted dates
• 1⁄2 cup  roughly chopped walnuts
• 1⁄3 cup salted peanuts
• 1⁄3 cup  roughly chopped hazelnuts
• 1⁄3 cup  roughly chopped  almonds
• 1  orange, zest of, Grated
• 1  lemon, zest of, Grated
• 1⁄4 cup kirsch
• 1  tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 1⁄2-3  cups all-purpose flour
• 6  tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
• 1  teaspoon table salt
• 6  tablespoons  confectioners sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Put pears and prunes in a small saucepan; cover by 1" with water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook 3 minutes, until soft. Drain, but reserve liquid. Combine pears and prunes with raisins, currants, figs, dates, walnuts, peanuts, hazelnuts, almonds, orange zest and lemon zest. Add kirsch and toss well to combine.
2. In a small bowl, make a poolish by combining 1/2 cup of the (now cooled) fruit cooking water with the yeast, 1/2 cup flour and 2 tbsp granulated sugar. Cover and let rise 1 hour.
3. Scrape poolish into work bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook. Add the remaining flour, the remaining granulated sugar and the salt. Knead on low until combined, then add the fruit and nuts, continuing to knead on low until well-mixed. Turn out onto a heavily floured work surface and knead by hand, adding more flour as needed, until smooth and elastic; it should still be a wet, sticky dough. Place into a greased bowl, cover with plastic, and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
4. Preheat oven to 400°F Line a baking sheet with parchment or Silpat. Divide dough in half and form two balls; place on baking sheet. Let rest, uncovered, 20 minutes, or until nearly doubled in volume. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes, then lower temperature to 375F and bake another 20-25 minutes until golden brown and hollow-sounding when thumped.
5. Optional: whisk 6 tbsp confectioner's sugar with 1/2 c fruit cooking water to make a glaze. Spoon glaze over breads as soon as they come out of the oven. Cool nearly to room temperature before slicing.