Raspberry, chocolate & hazelnut breakfast bread

While on the BBC Good Food site over the past couple of weeks, this recipe popped up lots of times. I’m on a bit of a Nutella buzz at the moment, so this was right up my street. The worst bit was waiting for it to cool, as the smell screamed “EAAAAAAT MEEEEEEE”. Well, it didn’t so much scream, as murmur seductively: "eeeeaaaaat meeeeeee".

I mixed the dough last night, finished it this morning and baked it while getting ready for the day, so that by the time it was cooked and cooled, we were ready for breakfast.

It takes very little kneading, which is good, and I did this in the Kenwood, so that was even less effort. The bread was delicious, with a loose and light texture, and I guess that even though you’re using a full jar of Nutella, it’s spread over an entire loaf, so it’s only 20g per portion (just a little more than a dessertspoonful, and if you get ten slices from it). The raspberries do not count towards your 5-a-day.

Raspberry and Nutella bread

I’d no eggs, so I left this out and the bread still turned out fine. The dough was very soft so the egg would have made it even softer and less easy to handle.

2 x 7g sachets fast-action dried yeast

600g '00' flour, sponge flour or plain flour, plus extra for dusting

50g golden caster sugar

400ml warm milk

50g melted salted butter, plus extra for greasing and to serve

1 large egg, beaten

200g jar Nutella, plus extra to serve (optional)

200g raspberries

1-2 tbsp chopped hazelnut

1 tbsp granulated sugar

raspberry jam, to serve

Mix the yeast, 400g of the flour, the sugar and 1 tsp salt in a big bowl. Whisk together the milk, melted butter and egg, then tip into the dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Cover tightly with greased cling film and chill at least overnight or up to 3 days.

When you’re ready to finish the bread, heat oven to 180°C. Add the remaining flour to the dough and use your hands to mix in. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and lightly knead to completely bring together. Roll out with a little more flour to a 50 x 30cm rectangle. Spread the Nutella all over the dough. Scatter the raspberries evenly over, then press lightly with your hands so they stick into the dough a bit.

The original recipe goes into detail over cutting and twisting, which I started but my dough was quite soft, so it was quite difficult to manipulate. I ended up folding it back in on top of itself twice, which was not as pretty but it worked.

Lift onto a baking sheet, scatter with the hazelnuts and granulated sugar, and bake for 30-40 mins until browned and crusty.

Cool until just warm. Serve with butter, raspberry jam and extra Nutella, if you like.