Last weekend was Mother’s Day, and I wanted to make something special for my darling Mom. At this time of the year, when the freshness of spring is in the air, she prefers to be outdoors planting flowers and tending to her lovely garden as opposed to being indoors baking. My Mother, and indeed my Father as well, prefers a good, homemade bread to most pastries and cakes, so I thought I’d surprise her with a rich yeast bread of some kind.
Mom loves the fresh flavour of oranges in baked goods, so I set about searching through my vast collection of cookbooks, food magazines, and recipe clippings for inspiration. I finally came across the tantalizing image of a loaf shaped in the form of a crown, topped with flaked almonds and golden orange zest, and stuffed with apricots. It was a recipe I had clipped from a grocery store magazine back when I lived in London (England), hoping to try it someday. When I read through the actual recipe, it seemed made to measure for what I had in mind ♥ The rich dough, laced with fresh orange zest, is stuffed with two fragrant fillings before being shaped and baked. One of these is composed of dried apricots, fresh orange juice and zest, and is flavoured with the warm notes of cardamom, which I love. The other is a homemade orange-scented almond paste.
After baking, the loaf is drizzled with an orange or orange liqueur-flavoured glaze, then sprinkled with almonds and sugared orange zest for a lovely effect.
The bread dough calls for strong, white flour, also known as bread flour. This type of flour makes a dough that is more elastic than dough prepared with ordinary flour (and so tends to be a little harder to manipulate), but the baked result is well worth the effort. The cooked bread dough bakes light and tender with a firm, golden crust.
Delicious, rich, tender orange-flavoured bread, filled with an orange, almond, apricot filling, is perfect for breakfast or as an afternoon treat!
I made a few changes for the better to the recipe, and presented the ingredients in a way that will simplify making it. I prepared the dough using a KitchenAid, but if you prefer, just knead it by hand. Even though the recipe looks lengthy, it doesn’t take that much “actual” time to make and is fairly simple. All that’s needed is a little patience, and you can do other things while the dough is rising!
This lovely bread is delicious as is or served with cold butter, which is how I like it! My parents absolutely loved it, and it is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again ♥
You will need a mixing bowl in addition to the bowl of your stand mixer, a rolling pin, and a lightly floured baking sheet. You can also use a sheet of baking parchment on which to roll the dough and help you form the roll.
Finely ground almonds, dried apricots, fresh oranges, and warm, fragrant cardamom, are ingredients that go into the making of this beautiful rich bread. The prepared almond paste, can be seen to the far right, and the prepared apricot orange filling is in the centre.
Metric | Ingredient | Preparation |
150 g | Ready-to-eat, dried apricots | Chopped, but not too finely. |
1 | Orange | Zest and juice (about 60 ml of juice). |
30 ml | Brown sugar | Packed (or golden caster sugar). |
3.5 ml | Ground cardamom |
Metric | Ingredient | Preparation |
100 g | Finely ground almonds | |
Orange | Zest and juice (about 60 ml of juice), zest reserved for the bread dough*. | |
30 ml | Brown sugar | Packed (or golden caster sugar). |
1.5 ml | Ground cardamom |
Metric | Ingredient | Preparation |
350 g | Strong, white (bread) flour | You will need extra for kneading & rolling. |
2.5 ml | Sea salt | |
25 g | Sugar | |
4 g | Quick rise, instant (fast action) yeast | |
200 ml | Warm milk (38C), plus a little extra | |
75 g | Butter | Room temperature – it needs to be quite soft. |
Zest from one orange* | Refer to the Almond Orange filling above*. | |
1 | Large egg | Beaten. |
**For the following steps always start at the “stir”setting and never use a setting higher than 2.**
Now this is the slightly tricky bit, as the dough will be quite elastic! Just be patient!
After rolloing out the dough, the almond paste is spread carefully over it. This is topped with the apricot mixture prior to being rolled up, jelly roll fashion.
The roll is coiled into a wreath, placed on a baking sheet, and the edges are slashed through with a knife.
Metric | Ingredient | Preparation |
80 g | Icing sugar | Sifted. |
15 ml | Butter | Melted. |
15 – 30 ml | Orange juice, Grand Marinier, or other orange liqueur | |
50 g | Flaked almonds | Toasted if desired. |
1/2 | Orange | Zest, tossed in 5 ml of sugar (or golden caster sugar). |
Allow to set for at least an hour if you wish to wrap up the loaf in cellophane and a pretty ribbon to give as a gift.
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Ça doit être bon! Bonne soirée x
Merci Irene :-) Je vous en envoi un express par courriel !!! Bissous, marie xxx
Thanks, I will try this recipe ♥ it looks great! I especially like the detailed information.
Hi Kevin! Thanks so much for registering on my webzine :-} I’m really pleased that you like the recipe and can’t wait for you to tell me how it turned out for you! If you don’t have any cardamom, you can leave it out, but the warmth of this lovely spice really adds to it! You can use cardamom in many dishes as well. One of my favourites is a caramelised pear & cardamom upside down cake :-)
I talked to a friend who made this and said how wonderful it wa, SO I AM MAKING THIS FOR A SUNDAY MORNING BRUNCH!
Really?! I can’t wait for you to taste it, Helen! You’ll love it, I know :-) Mom & Dad adored this loaf! Have a great week sweetie xxx
Wow! Looks delicious…I will have to try it!
Hey Sis! Thanks :-) I hope you do ~ you and Ron will love it! Hellen just left me a message to say she’ll be making it for brunch this weekend.
I’ve been making pizza dough for pizza and calzone tonight. Spinach, garlic, prosciutto, and fresh mozzarella calzone with fresh rosemary and oregano, and a fresh asparagus and garlic shrimp pizza :-)
PS How’s the weqather in Alaska? I hope all the snow is gone! Just teasing :-) Will call you soon xxxx
Chère petite Marie,
Tu sais comment moi et ton père avons adoré ce pain riche et tellement délicieux. J’aime beaucoup ton article et la façon dont tu as rédigé ta recette. Les photos sont superbes, et les instructions très claires – je crois qu’un débutant pourrait réussir ce pain sans trop de problèmes ! Cependant, même si je pourrais en préparer moi-même, tu peux m’en refaire aussi souvent que tu veux :-) Reviens nous voir bien tôt !
Maman xxx
Thanks Mom – OK, I get the message! I’ll make some again soon and bring it over. Or maybe we can bake some together next time I visit ?
Love you
Marie xxx