Beraweaka is a medieval fruit pudding cake a bit like black pudding but sweet, hard and full of fruit. It is delicious served thinly sliced with cheese or ice cream.
It adds a festive cheer to your Christmas menu but like most great dishes can be served all year around.
Ingredients for 2 loaves
135g (1 cup) dried currants
150 g (1 cup) dark raisins
75 g (½ cup) diced dried pear
75 g (½ cup) diced dried figs
75 g (½ cup) diced dried apricots
50 g (¼ cup) sugar
125 ml (½ cup) kirsch (cherry brandy)
1 teaspoon dry yeast
80 ml (¼ cup) warm water275 g (2 to 2 ¼ cup) flour
125 ml (½ cup) milk
30 g (2 tbsp) butter, melted
½ teaspoon salt
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of ground aniseed
50 g (½ cup) slivered almonds
110 g (1 cup, 4 oz) walnuts, roughly chopped
40 g (¼ cup) candied lemon peel, diced
40 g (¼ cup) candied orange peel, diced
Mix all the dried fruits with the sugar and the kirsch in a bowl. Let it marinate for a day at room temperature.
Next day, make a dough. In a large bowl, dissolve the dried yeast in warm water and let stand until bubbles start to form, about 10 minutes. Add half the flour, warm milk, melted butter, salt and spices. Stir everything until well combined. Add as much flour as needed to make a soft dough and knead on a lightly floured surface for a couple of minutes.
Place the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let rise at room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, about 1 hour (the time depends on the temperature of the room).
Transfer the dough into another large bowl and add the dried fruit, nuts and candied peels. Knead until the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed. Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a log, about 30 cm (12 inches) long. Place logs on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
Let rise for about 30 minutes more. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 F.
Bake the Beraweaka until firm and pretty dark, about 45 – 55 minutes, rotating the sheet halfway through. Transfer to a rack to cool. Beraweka keeps well in a sealed container.
