I adore Saffron, there’s something just so luxurious and heady about using this spice, the delicate little scarlet tendrils emitting a lovely honeyed distinct flavour. As soon as I saw this recipe in Dan Lepard’s “The Handmade Loaf”, a gorgeous book that will inspire any wannabe baker, I knew I had to make it. Or at least my version of it. He is a baker so he gives complex instructions on how to do it right from the very beginning but some are time consuming. So I’ve kept the essence of the loaf while tinkering with the method.

His recipe specifies 100g of currants, I used sultanas but found that 100g was way too much for the size of the loaf and that after mixing and rising, most of the sultanas were on the outside and therefore burned in the oven. Some were easy to pick off and perhaps it’s the difference in method. Nevertheless I was annoyed, mostly at myself, when I took it out of the oven to see all of the sultanas burnt on the top and the loaf resembling a dark bronze rather than a light gold pictured.

But once I sliced a piece of this spongy delicious bread and slathered it with butter and my last jar of Spiced Grape Jam, I realised that all was not lost, the bread was so gorgeously soft and soaked up the liquidey jam and went so well with the mixed spice so well that I would even suggest adding a teaspoon of mixed spice into the recipe if you wish. I’m still not quite sure why the sultanas all remained on the outside, with very few on the inside. But this gorgeous spongey bread is ideal for breakfast, to soak up a honey or liquidey jam. Be warned, it’s not one of those loaves that will keep well for several days, after all it has no preservatives, but even after the first day the texture changes but toasting it will help in this respect.

Read More