Apricot and saffron spiral

• By Matty Cremona

You will need:

One tablespoonful or sachet of instant yeast, 350ml of tepid water, a pinch of saffron, a teaspoonful of sea-salt, one or two tablespoonfuls of olive oil, 500g of strong white flour, 200g of Good Earth dried apricots (chopped), the zest of an orange, 100g of sugar, poppy seeds.

Mix the saffron into the warm water and allow it to infuse. Sieve the flour into a big bowl, stir in the instant yeast, the salt and olive oil. Pour the tepid saffron water slowly into the flour, stirring all the time until the mixture binds together, then knead the dough for at least ten minutes. It should be neither too hard and dry, nor too wet and sticky. It is better to start off with slightly sticky dough, as it is far easier to add flour to this than it is to add water to dry dough. Leave it to prove for an hour or until it has doubled in size. Mix the sugar with the apricots and the orange zest. Knock back the dough and knead the mixture into it. It may seem the dough will never absorb the apricots, sugar and orange but keep kneading. If the dough seems too wet, add a little flour. When it is smooth again, roll it into a long ‘snake’ and wind it into a spiral. Put it onto a greased or paper-lined baking-tray and leave to rise again until it doubles in size – which takes about 45 minutes. Just before baking the loaf, mix some caster sugar and water together and glaze the top – gently – and sprinkle on lots of sesame seeds. Bake it at gas mark 7/210C for around 30 minutes or until it is brown and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.