Pear And Poppy Seed Loaf Food

POPPY SEED BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine first five ingredients. Add the eggs, milk, oil and extracts. Pour into two greased 8x4-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes. Cool completely in pans. , In a saucepan, bring glaze ingredients to a boil. Pour over bread in pans. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

POPPY SEED CAKE

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the poppy seeds and milk. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and allow to rest until cool, about 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large loaf or tube pan by greasing it with margarine and lightly flouring the inside of the pan.
• In bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Add egg yolks, vanilla, and poppy seed-milk mixture, and beat until smooth. Gradually add 2 cups flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well; remove bowl from mixer and set aside.
• Place a clean bowl in mixer, with a whisk attachment, and whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into batter. Scrape into pan, and bake until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a rack. Unmold after 15 minutes. When cool, dust cake with confectioners' sugar.

POPPY SEED LOAF

Steps:

• In a saucepan, heat together milk, sugar, shortening, and salt until warm.
• Combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir in warm milk mixture. Add 3 eggs; beat with an electric mixer at low speed for 1/2 min, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat for 3 minutes at high speed. Stir in as much of remaining flour as you can. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining flour to make a stiff dough, and continue kneading for 6 to 8 minutes. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, and turn once to grease surface. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
• Meanwhile, pour boiling water over poppy seeds; let stand 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly, and place in a blender. Grind. In a small bowl, blend together ground poppy seeds, chopped nuts, honey, and lemon zest. Beat 1 egg white until stiff, and fold into poppy seed mixture.
• Punch down dough, and divide in half. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll half of the dough into 24 x 8 inch rectangle. Spread with half the poppy seed mixture. Roll up jelly roll style, starting with the narrow edge. Seal the edge. Place seam side down, in a greased 8 x 4 inch loaf pan. Repeat with the other half of the dough. Cover. Let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, or until doubled.
• Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

EASY SEED & GRAIN LOAF

Steps:

• Tip the flour, seeds, yeast and salt into a large bowl. Mix the water, oil and honey in a jug, then pour into the dry mix, stirring all the time to make a soft dough. If it feels sticky, sprinkle in a little more flour.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 mins, until the dough no longer feels sticky, sprinkling with a little more flour as you need it.
• Oil a 1.2-litre loaf tin and put the dough in the tin, pressing it in evenly. Cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for 1 hr, until it springs back when you press it with your finger. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
• Make eight slashes across the top of the loaf, brush with water and sprinkle alternately with poppy and sesame seeds. Bake for 30-35 mins until the loaf is risen and brown. Tip it out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool.

SESAME, SUNFLOWER & POPPY SEED BLOOMER

Steps:

• Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Put in the butter and rub it into the flour. Mix in the seeds. Make a dip in the centre of the flour and pour in almost 300ml hand warm (cool rather than hot) water, with a round-bladed knife. Then mix in enough of the remaining water and a bit more if needed, to gather up any dry bits in the bottom of the bowl, until the mixture comes together as a soft, not too sticky, dough. Gather it into a ball with your hands.
• Put the dough onto a very lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 mins until it feels smooth and elastic, only adding the minimum of extra flour if necessary to prevent the dough sticking. Place the ball of dough on a lightly floured work surface. Cover with an upturned, clean, large glass bowl and leave for 45 mins-1 hr or until doubled in size and feels light and springy. Timing will depend on the warmth of the room.
• Knock back the dough by gently kneading just 3-4 times. You only want to knock out any large air bubbles, so too much handling now will lose the dough's lightness. Shape into a ball, then cover and leave for 10 mins.
• Shape by flattening the dough into a rectangle about 25 x 19cm using your knuckles. Fold both shorter ends into the centre like an envelope, make a ¼ turn, then flatten again into the same size and roll up very tightly, starting from one of the short ends. Seal both ends by pressing down firmly with the side of your hand. Lay the loaf on a baking parchment-lined baking sheet with the join underneath. Using a very sharp knife, make 7-8 diagonal slashes down the length of the loaf, deep enough to open up slightly. Cover and leave for 40-45 mins, or until about doubled in size. Finish by brushing between slashes with water, then sprinkling with alternate lines of seeds.
• Put a roasting tin in the bottom of the oven 20 mins before ready to bake and heat oven to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. Put the risen bread in the oven, carefully pour about 250ml cold water into the roasting tin (this will hiss and create a burst of steam to give you a crisp crust), then lower the heat to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Bake for 30-35 mins or until golden. Remove and cool on a wire rack. If you tap the underneath of the loaf if should be firm and sound hollow.