The traditional ingredients used in this moist, dense German Christmas yeast bread are prune juice, chopped prunes, raisins, walnuts, and brown sugar.
Preparation Time
30 mins
Cooking Time
1 hr 40 mins
Total Time
2 hr 10 mins
Calories
400 Calories
Recipe Instructions
Step 1
Grease a large bowl. Lightly grease three 5 x 9-inch loaf pans. Set aside.
Step 2
Pour water into another large bowl. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Set aside until mixture becomes creamy, about 15 minutes. Stir in white sugar and 3 cups flour. Mix until well combined.
Step 3
Add prune juice and mincemeat to a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, and stir in prunes, butter, raisins, walnuts, brown sugar, and salt.
Step 4
Combine prune mixture with yeast mixture. Gradually stir in remaining 7 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, until well blended to make a moist dough (you may not need all of it). Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead into a ball. Transfer to the reserved greased bowl. Cover with a cloth, and place in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 hours.
Step 5
Punch down dough, knead lightly on a floured work surface, and return to the bowl. Allow to rise again, about 1 hour.
Step 6
Turn dough out onto a floured work surface. Punch down and divide into 3 loaves. Place each loaf into a prepared loaf pan. Lightly brush tops of each loaf with 1 teaspoon softened butter. Cover with a clean cloth, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Step 7
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
Step 8
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Lower heat to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle of loaves comes out mostly clean, about 30 minutes more. Let cool slightly, remove from pans, and cool on racks.
