Sweet hazelnut loaf

Start by making the sweet dough. Put the flour in the bowl of the stand mixer and rub in the butter until it resembles bread-crumbs (as if making pastry). Add the sugar, salt, and yeast and stir to combine.
Place the milk in a measuring jug and stir in the egg. Pour this mixture into the flour mix and combine at a slow speed on the stand mixer using the dough hook. Once the dough is combined, scrape down as required, increase the speed and knead for 8-9 minutes.
Once the dough has been kneaded, turn out into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove in a warm place for about 2-hours or until the dough has doubled in size.
Whilst the dough is proving, make the hazelnut filling.
You’ll need 125g of sweet crumb. This can be made by chopping up sponge cake or scones in the food processor or, as we do, by combining digestive biscuits and some white bread and chopping these together in the processor.
Add the chopped roasted hazelnuts, caster sugar, a squeeze of vanilla paste, and all of the spices to the sweet crumb and pulse in the processor until combined. Add in the egg and pulse to a thick paste. Finally, add enough whole milk to the mix to create a spreadable consistency. The resultant paste should be the consistency of loose peanut butter.
Scrape the completed filling into a bowl, cover with cling film and place into the fridge until needed.
Preheat the oven to 200℃ at least 30mins before needing to bake.
Once the sweet dough has finished proving, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and flatten into a disk with your fingertips. Dust with flour and roll out the dough into a large rectangle using a rolling pin.
Using a spatula, spread the hazelnut mixture evenly over the surface of the dough and roll it up into a fat sausage. With the seam underneath, using a serrated knife, cut down through the sausage to reveal the layers and twist into a plait, tucking under the ends. Place the complete ‘twisted dough’ onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment and leave to rise for an hour or so, covered with a linen cloth.
After the second prove, place the loaf in the oven and immediately give it a shot of steam (or a few squirts from a spray bottle) and turn the oven down to 180℃. Bake for 30mins. After which time, remove the loaf from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Be careful as the loaf will be very soft.
Once the loaf has cooled, make up some icing by combining 100g of icing sugar with a little hot water (or lemon juice). Drizzle this icing over the loaf and leave to set. The loaf can be served in thick slices either on its own or with some unsalted butter. Absolutely delicious.

Sweet hazelnut loaf

Ingredients

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Method

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Recipe