Walnut fruit bread with labne recipe

Serves 12 | 35 mins cook

Walnut fruit bread with labne, yoghurt recipe, brought to you by Woman's Day

Ingredients

Labne (yoghurt spread)
1/2 tspsalt
500 gthick greek yoghurt
1/2 cupmint and chives, each finely chopped
extra virgin olive oil, to serve
Fruit bread
3 cupsself-raising flour
100 gbutter, chopped
1/2 cupcoarsely chopped toasted walnuts
1 tbsphoney
1/2 cupfinely chopped pitted dates
1/2 cupfinely chopped dried figs
3/4 cupmilk
1 egg, lightly whisked
Recipe by

Steps

Walnut fruit bread with labne

To make labne; place a sieve over a large bowl. Line with a piece of cheesecloth. Stir salt into yoghurt and spoon into cloth. Gather corners and loosely secure. Chill for 24 hours.

Transfer firm yoghurt to bowl, discarding muslin and whey. Roll yoghurt into golf-ball size balls. Arrange on tray and chill 2 hours.

To make fruit bread; preheat oven to hot, 200°C. Dust an oven tray with a little plain flour. Sift flour into a bowl. Add butter and rub in using fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

In a small bowl, toss walnuts in honey. Add to flour with dried fruit, stirring to combine. Stir in combined milk and egg and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for 1-2 minutes, until smooth.

Shape into 2 x 25cm logs. Place on tray. Score tops with a sharp knife. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When ready to serve, roll yoghurt balls in combined herbs to coat. Drizzle with oil and accompany with sliced walnut fruit bread.

Tips
To preserve uncoated labne, prepare up to the end of Step 2. Place in a sterilised jar with sprigs of herbs, sliced garlic and chilli. Pour enough oil over to cover. Seal and store in fridge for up to 1 week.