Denise Phillips
The Torah tells us that the 5 types of grain: wheat, oat, spelt, barley and rye, plus any grape or wine products are all required to be eaten in the Succah at Succot and need a special blessing. I like to bring spirituality to the Succah table so why not make this recipe for all the right reasons! This delicious date and walnut bread can be shaped either into two large loaves or into small rolls. Perfect with hot soup or toast and enjoy with your favourite cheese.
Spelt, an ancient grain is now having a trendy revival. Widely available, the flour is pale greyish –yellow, gritty and has a sweetish nutty flavour. It is more digestible than wheat and richer in nutrients. Spelt can be used in place of regular flour for some people with wheat allergy but is not suitable for a gluten free diet.
Preparation Time: 20 minutes plus 2 hours 30 minutes for rising
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Makes 2 large loaves or 24 small rolls
Ingredients
800g spelt flour
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
1 teaspoon caster sugar
650ml warm water
2 teaspoons salt
75g dates – roughly chopped
75g walnuts- roughly chopped
2 beaten egg yolks – to glaze bread
Method
1) 1) Stir yeast and sugar gradually adding 100ml of the warm water. Leave for 5 minutes.
2) 2) Add the flour, salt and beat well. Stir in the dates, walnuts and remaining water and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic.
3) 3) Put the dough into an oiled bowl and turn once to oil the surface. Cover with cling film and leave to rise for 2 hours in a warm place.
4) 4) Line and grease 2 loaf tins.
5) 5) Knock back the dough and divide into 2. Knead and shape into 2 loaves or divide the dough into pieces weighing 55g each for individual rolls.
6) 6) Glaze the bread with egg yolk.
7) Leave to rise for 30 minutes (7.
8) 8) Pre –heat oven to 200 C/ Gas mark 6 and bake for 30 minutes for the large loaves or 20 minutes for the small rolls.
9) Leave to cool on a wire rack (9.
Photo credit: Denise Philips
Denise Philips
Denise Philips is a professional chef, who trained with renowned restaurateur Prue Leith before setting up a successful catering business. Her quest to improve the quality of Jewish cooking led to a number of highly successful ‘hands-on’ cookery demonstrations all over the country and a commission to write four different books to date that have established her as a leading name in modern Jewish cooking with style. Her books include Modern Jewish Cooking, The Book of Jewish Cooking, Jewish Mamas Kitchen, and New Flavours of the Jewish Table. She writes regular food columns for the UK’s Jewish News, the Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Recorder, Jewish Vegetarian Society, and for US publications including the Jewish Press in New York and the Jewish Advocate in Boston. Denise makes frequent media appearances and maintains a blog: http://www.jewishcookery.com
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