Recipe - Italian Christmas Bread

1 cup Warm water (105 to 115
degrees)
2 pack Active dry yeast
One half cup Sugar
2 teaspoon Salt
One half cup (1 stick) butter or
margarine, softened
3 Eggs, beaten
1 Egg, separated
5 One half To 6 cups sifted
allpurpose flour
1 cup Raisins
1 cup (8 oz) mixed candied peel
One half cup (4 oz) red candied cherries,
halved
1 tablespoon Butter or margarine, melted
2 tablespoon Water
2 tablespoon Sugar

If possible, check temperature of warm water with a thermometer. Sprinkle
yeast over water in a large bowl, stirring until dissolved. Add One half cup
sugar, salt, One half cup butter, 3 eggs, the egg yolk and 3 cups flour; beat
with wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes.
Gradually, add remaining flour; mix in last part with hand until dough
leaves side of bowl.

Turn dough onto lightly floured board. Knead until smooth, 5 minutes.
(Dough is soft. )Place in lightly greased large bowl; turn to bring greased
side up. Cover with towel; let rise in a warm place, free from drafts,
until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Grease well and line inside of 8" springform pan with 4" strip of buttered
brown paper. Punch down dough; turn out onto lightly floured pastry cloth
or board. Knead in raisins and candied fruits until well distributed, about
5 minutes. Place dough in prepared pan. Brush top with 1 Tbsp melted
butter. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place, free from drafts, until
more than double in bulk, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With a sharp knife, cut deep cross on top of
bread. Brush with egg white combined with 2 Tbsp water. Bake 30 minutes.
Remove bread form oven. Brush again with egg white mixture and sprinkle
with sugar. Continue baking 30 minutes longer or until golden brown. Remove
from pan; cool on rack. Makes 1 loaf.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini