Almond & Pear Bread

Ok, this is a funny recipe and you will have to be careful with the Pears, so they won't be too wet (as they were when I made the bread.. not that it wasn't tasty, but it needed more baking hence the "burning danger" is higher) lolz

The reason I made this bread is pretty simple. After seeing a Video of Garrett Weber-Gale explaining how healthy certain nuts are, I thought.. why not give Almonds a try? (Here's the Video of GWG athleticfoodie-nuts) (Thanks Garrett for the great tips, love your blog GWG)

Enjoy

You need:

450G (1 lb) Plain Flour
1 TBSP Fine Sea Salt
40G (1 1/2 OZ) Unsalted Butter, Softened & Diced
85G (3 OZ) Ground Almonds (you can buy whole Almonds and ground them yourself, that's what I did)
125G (4 1/2 OZ) Flaked Almonds
55G (2 OZ) Caster Sugar
2 Ripe Pears
300ML (10 FL OZ) Warm Milk
25G (1 OZ) Fresh Yeast

75G (2 1/2 OZ) Dark Chocolate (if you like)

Sieve the Flour into a large bowl. (Yes I always sieve the flour no matter what, first, that's the proper kosher way to do it.. you don't want to make the Rabbi angry now, do you? ;) lolz.. and second... and IMHO even more important, that's how I learned it from my daddy, who was a baker and pastry chef and he HAS to know... it's a good way to see, if the flour is ok, sometimes there are worms in the flour.. yup.. if you don't want those extra calcium ingredients in your bread, sieve the flour ;) )

Ok.. so .. Flour, Sugar, Salt and ground Almonds all in a bowl, rub the butter in until it's like bread crumbs. Make a well and pour the dissolved yeast into it and the remaining milk. Mix until you get a sticky dough.

Knead the dough for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface until it's elastic and smooth. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with damp tea towel and leave for an hour to rise.

Knock back the dough and knead for another 3 minutes. Press pears and half the almonds on top of the bread and chafe until they are evenly distributed.

Make a flat round shape of the dough, then make deep criss-cross cuts and scatter the remaining almonds on top. Cover the dough again and prove for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/ gas mark 4.

Bake loaf for about 25 to 30 minutes until it's golden and the base of the bread sounds hollow. Cool on a wire rack.

I not only drizzle with melted chocolate before I serve, but also with powdered sugar.

Enjoy :)