Walnut & date loaf

Pan de nueces y dátiles

This bread is delicious eaten on its own, but also goes well with any type of cheese, or even the country-style pâté.

MAKES 1 LOAF

150 ml (5 fl oz) tepid water

150 ml (5 fl oz) tepid milk

25 g (1 oz) fresh yeast

1 tablespoon sugarcane molasses (see note on Eggplant chips with sugarcane molasses) or treacle

100 g (3½ oz/ ²/₃ cup) plain (all-purpose)wholemeal (whole-wheat) flour

350 g (12 oz/2¹/₃ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

2 teaspoons salt

100 g (3½ oz) walnuts, coarsely chopped

110 g (3¾ oz/²/₃ cup) coarsely chopped seedless dates

1 tablespoon honey, for glazing

Combine the water and milk in a jug and crumble in the yeast. Stir to dissolve. Add the sugarcane molasses, mix to combine and set aside.

Sift the wholemeal flour, plain flour and salt together into a large bowl, mix well to combine and make a well in the centre. Pour in the yeast mixture and sprinkle over some of the flour. Set aside to ferment for 10 minutes; the yeast mixture will foam and swell in size when ready.

Mix the yeast mixture with the rest of the flour in the bowl to form a ball of dough. Put the dough on a lightly floured work surface (marble is best) and knead for 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Put into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1–2 hours until doubled in size.

Remove the plastic wrap from the risen dough and punch it with your fist, then transfer to the clean lightly floured work surface. Knead again for 1–2 minutes. Flatten out the dough, scatter over the nuts and dates, then fold the dough over and knead again to distribute the filling evenly.

Roll the dough into a log shape. Put it into a lightly oiled 10 x 28 cm (4 x 11 inch ) loaf (bar) tin. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place again for 30–60 minutes, until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas Mark 7). Bake on the middle shelf for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to 200°C (400°F/Gas Mark 6) and bake for a further 30–35 minutes; the bread is ready when it sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Remove the bread from the tin and cool on a wire rack. Brush the top of the still-warm loaf with the honey, to glaze.