Swabian Schnitzbrot or Hutzelbrot

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 500 g dried whole pears (e.g. Swiss water pears or roasting pears)
• 500 g plums, dried or prunes, are available without stones semi-dry in cans
• 40 g yeast, fresh
• 1,000 g flour, dark (type 1060)
• 250 g sugar
• 500 g fig(s), dried
• 125 g candied orange peel
• 125 g candied lemon peel
• 250 g hazelnuts
• 250 g walnuts
• 250 g almond(s), unpeeled, ground
• 250 g sultanas
• 250 g raisins
• 30 g ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp anise, ground
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 liters of fermented apple juice (Swabian must)
• 20 almonds, whole

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Total time approx. 14 hours

Recipe has been passed down for generations, makes 10 loaves

Soak the Hutzeln (dried pears) in a large pot with 1-2 liters of cider overnight. Bring to a boil the next day and simmer gently with the lid on until the pears are soft. Keep adding equal parts of cider and water to cover the Hutzeln. As they float to the top, I place a suitable plate on top of the Hutzeln to push them back into the liquid. Dice the plums and figs, finely chop the candied orange and lemon peel, as well as the hazelnuts and walnuts. Place everything in a large bowl (we use a plastic tub), add the ground almonds, sultanas, and raisins. Sprinkle with cinnamon, anise, and salt. Chop the soaked Hutzeln into small pieces, cutting off the small, hard part at the end of the pear, about the size of a lentil, and discard. Place everything in the tub and mix everything briefly with your hands. Make a small starter dough with a little warm Hutzeln broth, the yeast, a little sugar, and flour until it rises. Add the remaining sugar to the bowl with the pre-dough. Mix everything in, gradually adding the flour. If necessary, add a little more Hutzel broth to create a slightly sticky, pliable dough. It’s best to work in pairs—one holds the bowl. Then lightly dust the whole thing with flour, cover, and let it rise in a warm place. This takes some time. As soon as the flour cracks, work the dough again and divide it into 10 equal parts. Form loaves and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Blanch the whole almonds in hot water; this will make the brown skins easier to peel off. Split the almonds and press four halves onto each formed loaf, forming a symbolic cross. Cover with a cloth and let stand overnight. The next morning, preheat the oven to 220°C (190°C fan/convection oven). Bake the Hutzel breads for 40–50 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t turn black on top. Otherwise, turn the heat down in time. The loaves are ready when they sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Brush them with the remaining broth while they’re still warm; then they’ll shine beautifully, and let them cool. Let them stand for another day or two; that’s when they taste really good. We then wrap each loaf in plastic wrap. Hutzelbrot (also called Schnitzbrot) can be stored for a very long time, about 2-4 months. Check frequently to make sure no mold is forming under the film, which can happen if the bread is a bit too moist. Then unwrap immediately. We give a lot of them as Christmas presents.