Fruit And Nut Pastries Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the potatoes, sugar, shortening, eggs, salt and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes., Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the raisins, orange juice and sugar to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to a food processor or blender; cover and process until coarsely chopped. Pour into a bowl; stir in nuts., Line two baking sheets with foil and grease well; set aside. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Roll each portion into a 15x9-in. rectangle. Spread filling over dough to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal., Place each roll seam side down on a prepared baking sheet; pinch ends together to form a ring. With scissors, cut from outside edge to two-thirds of the way toward center of the ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes., Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over rings.

Steps:

• Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line the bottom and sides of one large 9 x 5 inch loaf pan or 2 smaller 8 x 4 loaf pans.
• In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the salt, baking powder and baking soda to combine. Add the brown sugar, all the dried fruit, and nuts and mix thoroughly with your fingers. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the vanilla extract until light. Pour the egg mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon or your hands until all the fruits and nuts are coated with batter. Scrape into the prepared pan (pans).
• Bake until the top is deep golden brown and the batter clinging to the fruit seems set, about 1 hour for smaller loaves, 10-15 minutes longer for a large loaf. Tent loosely with foil if the cake appears to be browning too much. Cook completely in the pan(s) on a rack.
• When completely cool, remove the cake from the pan(s). The cake keeps, wrapped airtight in foil or plastic wrap, for several weeks at room temperature or at least 3 months in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen for at least 6 months.
• To serve, cut into thin slices with a sharp heavy knife.

Steps:

• Sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Cut the butter into the mixture until mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the dry ingredients.
• Beat the egg and milk together and pour into the well. Mix until a soft dough consistency.
• Divide the dough into two pieces and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, mix the honey and coffee in a mixing bowl. Add the candied peel, walnuts and nutmeg. Stir well, cover and leave for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Roll one portion of dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Using a 4 inch pastry cutter, stamp out rounds.
• Place a heaped teaspoon of filling on one side of each round. Brush the edges with milk, then fold over and press together to seal.
• Repeat with second piece of pastry until all the filling has been used.
• Place the pastries on lightly greased baking sheets, brush lightly across the top of each pastry with a little milk and sprinkle the powdered sugar across each piece.
• Make a steam hole in the center of each pastry with a skewer.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until slightly puffy and lightly browned.
• Cool on a wire rack.