The sweet bread and dried fruit cake is a fantastic recycling dessert made with leftover bread and dried fruit (perfect for using up the leftovers we have after the holidays). It’s very easy, its texture is compact yet soft and moist, and it melts in your mouth. It’s well known that bread should never be wasted because there’s always a way to use it, giving it new life by preparing delicious and creative sweet or savory recipes. This recipe can be made with various types of bread: stale, fresh, white, whole wheat, multigrain, rye, and so on.
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 9
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients
- 10.5 oz multigrain whole wheat bread (also gluten-free)
- 1 1/4 cups boiling milk
- to taste orange zest
- 1 pinch ground cinnamon
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1.8 oz raisins
- 5 walnut halves
- 10 dried apricots
- 3 dates, dried
- 3 dried figs
- 0.7 oz dark chocolate chips
- 3 medium whole eggs
Tools
- 1 Electric Whisk
Steps
I used two different types of bread: one whole wheat (with a crunchy crust) and one multigrain (with a very soft crust); you can use all types of bread you like, be it fresh or a few days old, including gluten-free.
It will not be necessary to add the classic pinch of salt to the dessert, as the bread is already salted.
1) Finely chop the figs, dates, walnuts, and dried apricots or any other type of dried and dehydrated fruit you like.
2) Soak the raisins in boiling water for about 10 minutes; then, rinse, press slightly to remove excess water, and set aside.
3) Heat the milk with the grated zest of an orange and a pinch of ground cinnamon in a saucepan; the milk should become very hot but should not boil.
4) Cut the bread into small pieces, place them in a bowl, and drizzle with the very hot milk. Stir well with a fork to ensure the bread is perfectly soaked.
5) Add the chopped dried fruit, raisins, and honey, and mix again.
6) Separate the yolks from the whites. Add the yolks to the bread mixture and mix well.
7) Add the chocolate chips and incorporate them into the mixture, stirring well.
8) Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add them to the mixture a little at a time, gently mixing with a spoon, moving from bottom to top.
9) Pour the mixture into a 9.5-inch cake pan lined with parchment paper, level it very gently with the back of a spoon (without pressing the mixture) and bake in the preheated oven at 338°F for about 40 minutes.Check the cooking of the sweet bread and dried fruit cake with a skewer, which should come out dry.
The cake should be cut only when it is cold, to avoid breaking it.
Extra Idea. You can add a teaspoon of liqueur to the dessert.
The sweet bread cake can be served either hot or cold.
It keeps in a well-sealed cake container for 3-4 days, becoming more fragrant and delicious over time.
