You CAN’T bake blueberries into a loaf of bread, they are too WET and when it bakes they’ll steam up and puff the loaf so big it will collapse again after baking!

How do I know? Because I tried it, and so I created this plait which not only looks beautiful but serves a purpose too! THAT’S how you can get blueberries into your bread :-)

It’s sweet, it’s soft, with a little crunch on top thanks to my favourite pearl sugar nibs. Honey is here too, joining the party to bring it’s sweetness and fragrance.

Have fun with this one, it is one of the recipes in my book Bread Every Day.

Jack :-)

Blueberry, Orange and Honey Plait

Notes

This recipe will makes one large plait

Difficulty: Medium

My Kitchen Temperature: 21°C/70°F

Start to finish: 3.5-5 hours

Ingredients

For the dough

115g Milk warmed to 25-30C or 77-86 F

1 Medium egg (50g of egg without the shell) plus one egg beaten for glazing

7g Dried yeast or 14g fresh yeast

250g Strong white bread flour

35g Honey plus extra for glazing

4g Salt

Greated Zest of one Orange

35g Room temperature unsalted butter

100g Blueberries

Pearl Sugar Nibs for sprinkling

 Method

Making the dough

In a large bowl whisk together your milk, egg and yeast until the yeast has softened.

Add the flour, salt, honey and orange zest.

Mix together with your dough scraper into a rough dough. Then, dimple in the butter with your fingertips.

Tip your dough out onto the table and knead for 10 minutes. It will be sticky and a little buttery but resist the urge to dust with flour. Instead use your dough scraper to clean up every once in a while.

Rest your dough under an upturned bowl for 5-10 minutes to make the next part easier.

Adding the fruit

Dust your dough lightly and use a rolling pin to roll it into a 15cm circle. Sprinkle 75g of the blueberries all over the dough, right to the edge and press down lightly with your palms to stick.

Roll up your dough into a loose sausage, then turn 90 degrees and roll up again into a short sausage.

Cup and turn the dough to round it into a ball shape and place into your bowl.

Cover the bowl with another upturned bowl and rest for 90-120 minutes.

Dividing and shaping

Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.

Dust your work surface lightly with flour, and turn the dough out of the bowl upside down onto it, sticky side up. Use your fingertips to flatten the dough slightly and cut into four equal sized wedges with your dough scraper.

Starting at the pointy end, roll each wedge of dough into a loose sausage. Cover with a clean cloth and rest for 10 minutes to relax the dough ready for the next bit.

Working one at a time, flatten a dough sausage and roll it back up into a sausage again. Then with your palms roll it on the work surface to a length of 40-45cm. At this point some blueberries might get squished but don’t worry! Dust any areas that get particularly sticky with flour.

Line up the four strands vertically. Working with the strands in two pairs and starting with the right pair, fold the right strand over the left. Then do the same with the left pair, right over left. Next, take the two strands now in the middle and fold left over right. Repeat to the end: right over left of one pair, right over left of the other pair, left over right in the middle.

Press the ends together to stick and tuck them underneath. Place the plait on your lined tray.

Cover your plait loosely with dusted cling film and rest for 1 hour.

Towards the end of this time, preheat the oven to 180C fan/400F/Gas Mark 6 with a deep roasting tray in the bottom and a shelf in the middle for baking.

Baking

Boil half a kettle of water.

Stud your plait with the remaining blueberries you kept from earlier and brush gently all over with your eggwash.

Place your plait onto the oven, pour the hot water carefully into the tray beneath and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Finishing

Remove your plait from the oven and transfer to a wire rack, place the parchment paper underneath to catch the drips as you drizzle the plait with honey. Use a pastry brush to brush it all over and sprinkle over some pearl sugar nibs.