Sweet Lime Bread with a Tangy Lime Drizzle

This recipe for sweet lime bread first appeared on my former blog, The Culinary Jumble, in October 2016. Although this blog is primarily about spelt flour, some of my older recipes were made with bread or regular flour. Please read the recipe notes for more information. 

Usually, the name of a recipe is pretty apparent and easy to come up with. This one, though, was a little trickier. I always associate “sweet bread” with “sweetbreads”, which is a whole different ball game (Google if you don’t believe me); certainly not something I want people to think about when looking at my baking.

However, there is no escaping that this is bread and it is sweet. Other than the fact that it has lime in it, there isn’t a great deal more to say about it. Oh, and it has cottage cheese in there, too. That surprised you, didn’t it?

Using cottage cheese gives the bread a fluffy texture, but doesn’t affect the taste at all. Just don’t let your kids see you making it, because if they are anything like mine (or should I say my finicky nine year old), they will imagine they can taste it, and therefore not want to eat it.

This bread is perfect with an afternoon cup of coffee. In Sweden, it would be referred to as “fikabröd”, which is the name given to any kind of bread (sweet or savoury) served during a coffee break.

Fika (a verb as well as a noun) is a national institution here in Sweden, and if I was forced to liken it to something else, it would be our very British “afternoon tea”. Although fika traditionally involved drinking coffee, it now applies to any drink, hot or cold, and is enjoyed with something sweet like a kanelbulla (cinnamon bun), a small sandwich, or knäckerbröd (crisp bread). If you are interested in finding out more about one of Sweden’s most enjoyed pastimes, have a read of this.

Anyway, back to the recipe. This soft, pillowy bread, with just a hint of lime, is delicious. You can use any pan to bake the bread in (I thought the heart-shaped one was pretty), but a springform is better because you can get at the bread easier when it is baked.

There is enough to feed 4-5 people, and if you don’t fancy lime, any fruit would do – lemon or orange would be just as amazing.

If you like lime, check out my mascarpone lime and white chocolate dessert or my elderflower and lime cake. 

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Sweet Lime Bread with a Tangy Lime Drizzle

Ingredients

Bread:

• 25g (1½ tbs) fresh yeast (see note 1)
• 115ml (½ cup) milk
• 100ml (3½ fluid oz) fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 115g (½ cup) cottage cheese (see note 2)
• 80g (⅓ cup + 1 tbs) sugar
• 1 egg
• 350-400g (3-3⅓ cups) bread flour (see note 3)

Drizzle:

• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 100g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar

Instructions

• Heat the milk until lukewarm, then crumble the fresh yeast in. Leave for a couple of minutes for the yeast to dissolve and then stir until well combined.
• Add the lime juice, sugar, cottage cheese and vanilla. Next, beat the egg and add most of it to the mixture, leaving a touch behind to wash the bread with before baking.
• In a large bowl (or using a stand mixer) add around 300g (2½ cups) flour. Pour in the wet ingredients and beat fast for a minute or so. Gradually, add the rest of the flour until you have a dough which is a little tacky to the touch.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and grease a medium-sized baking or cake tin (you don't want it too big that the bread doesn't rise to fill it all, but at the same time, if it is too small, the bread will be squashed. I judged which size to use when I saw how much bread I had).
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until it is nice and smooth. Divide the dough into eight evenly-sized pieces and roll into balls.
• Place the balls in your prepared pan, a small space apart, cover with a tea towel or cloth and leave in a warm place to rise for around 30 minutes.
• After they have risen, take the retained egg and brush it over the tops of the bread balls.
• Bake for around 20-25 minutes, until the outsides are a lovely golden brown. Remove from the oven, cover with a tea towel and allow to cool a little.
• In the meantime, prepare the drizzle: pour the lime juice into a bowl and add just as much icing sugar needed to make a thick but runny drizzle. Pour over the bread or drizzle with a spoon, and serve while still warm. Enjoy!

Notes

 

1. I used fresh yeast in this particular recipe. King Arthur have an explanation of the different kinds of yeast and a handy conversion tool. 
2. I used cottage cheese because I had some to use up. You can use Greek yoghurt or the same amount of milk, if you prefer (the recipe already calls for 115ml of milk, so your total would be 230ml milk in this case).
3. This is a recipe that was originally published on my former blog, The Culinary Jumble, so uses bread flour, but I see no reason why you couldn't use regular or spelt flour in this recipe. I often interchange spelt,  regular and bread flour (and have never had any issues at all). However, spelt flour can behave a little differently in bread, and so for the sake of transparency, I have not made this recipe with anything other than bread flour. 

 

Disclaimer:

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made the recipe with imperial measurements.

In addition, many ingredients are different in Europe compared to North America (and the rest of the world). I do all I can to offer possible alternatives and to ensure the best possible outcomes for everyone. However, results cannot always be guaranteed if you have not used the same ingredients, measurements or methods as me.

Lastly, I do everything I can to ensure that my recipes (and instructions) are accurate and easy to follow. However, I am human, and don't always get it right. If you notice anything strange, a mistake, or even a typo, please let me know in the comments.