NARCISSA'S YULE LOAF❄ • Goodday my fellow Witches and Wizards! Today's recipe is a really close one to my Dutch roots and Yule tradition. We call it in Dutch: Kerststol. It is a loaf of bread we always eat during the festive season slightly sweetenend and rich bread with soaked sultana's, I soaked mine in clemetine liquor along with sour berries. A marzipan centre in the middle of the loaf. And sprinkled with flaked almonds and a lot of snow. Best enjoyed with some vegan butter. But the way I eat and how my grandmom teached me is to whole out the marzipan centre with a butter knife, smeer that over the bread and then the butter over. Then enjoy and for me the best way to enjoy this yule loaf. It is a centerpiece for every christmas breakfast or brunch. You can literally buy these everywhere in the Netherlands but I wanted to show you how to make it and taste some real Dutch tradition and art. Because making bread is an art. I dedicated this recipe to Narcissa Malfoy, in my eyes a real ice queen.A woman as beautiful as snow but so cold. A bad ass mom and this is definitly a posh breakfast item. This loaf is traditionaly non-vegan but I veganized it of course. And I felt a great sence of my grandmother's presence while I was kneeding the dough and making this set up. I was deeply touched that she joined me on the moment when I needed her to complete the art behind this recipe. And this is what being a Kitchen Witch is all about.

This recipe is:

• Vegan
• Cruelty free
• Perfect for Yule 
• Nostalgic 

For one loaf you will need:

DRY INGREDIENTS

❄ 500 grams of white (bread) flour

❄ 60 grams of organic sugar

❄ 50 grams of shredded coconut 

❄ 15 grams of dried yeast 

❄ 2 tbsp gingerbread spices 

❄ pinch of salt 

❄ 50 grams of vegan butter 

WET INGREDIENTS 

❄ 200 ml luke warm almond milk 

❄ 100 ml luke warm water 

❄ 1 tsp vanilla extract 

SOAKED NUT AND FRUIT MIX

❄ 50 grams of clementine liquor 

❄ 125 grams of dried fruit of your choice, I chose rainsins, cherries and cranberry 

❄ 2 tbsp candied ginger in syrup 

❄ 70 grams of pecans 

MARZIPAN FILLING 

❄ 300 grams of vegan marzipan 

❄ zest of 1 lemon 

❄ 2 tbsp applesauce 

Garnish:

❄ 35 grams of flaked almonds 

❄ powdered sugar

MAGICAL METHOD:

1. Take a large mixing bowl and add all the dry ingredients. 
2. Put a medium size pan on the stove with the milk, vanilla extract and water. Set on low heat. Do not boil the milk, just only heating up. 
3. Add the yeast to the warm milk and water. Stir and set aside for ten minutes. 
4. Meanwhile you can make the soaked nut and fruit mix. Take a small bowl and all the ingredients, plus the liquor. Set aside until you need it further into the recipe. How longer it soaks how better it tastes. 
5. After ten minutes add the milk and yeast mixture to the dry ingredients. First start mixing with a wooden spoon and then take over with your hands. After three folds start adding small pieces of butter until it is fully incorperated in the dough. 
6. Kneed the dough until it stretches back from itself. It takes 10 minutes give or take.
7. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl and put the dough there and let it rise for an hour until double in size. Put the bowl in a warm place in the house. Put a wet tea towel over the bowl. 
8. Meanwhile make the marzipan filling. Zest the lemon and add the applesauce and mix everything until combined. Set aside until you need it.
9. After one hour of rising, add the nut and fruit mixture to the dough and kneed until combined. I added two tbsp of extra flour because it made the dough a little wet. 
10. Take a large baking sheet and line with baking paper.
11. Make a rephtangle shape of the dough (2 or 3 cm thick).
12. Make a log shape of the marzipan filling and put that in the middle of the dough. 
13. Fold over the overlapping pieces of dough and tuck everything in. Push in the dried nuts and fruits because they will burn quickly in the oven. 
14. Let the loaf rise again for an hour, covered with a wet tea towel.
15. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. I brushed my bread with some extra melted butter. First bake the bread for 25 minutes and then set the oven lower in 160 and bake for another 15 minutes. In the last 10 minutes of baking I took the loaf out of the oven and added a brush of butter and flaked almonds (about 35 grams). Put back in the oven and then let the loaf cool completely. 

BEST ENJOYED WITH:

• Vegan butter 
• A cup of tea 
• Powdered sugar