Walnut and raisin bread with persimmon jam

This walnut and raisin bread is going to be your favorite this Christmas. I'm sure. Because it's super easy to make and because you have a great taste.

You need to have some boiled or roasted potatoes, flour and some nuts or raisins, or whatever you prefer to put on it. It's delicious and you'll discover the pleasure of making bread at home in the easiest way.

Ingredients

• 350 g potatoes
• 530 ml warm water
• 14 g of dry baker's yeast
• 730 g strong flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 70 g chopped walnuts
• 40 g small raisins

For the jam

• 1k of persimmons
• 400 g sugar
• 1 lemon
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Wash the potatoes well with the skin and cook (boiled or in the microwave). Remove the skin and set aside. They should NOT be hot when we are going to use them.

In a bowl, put the slightly warm water and yeast. Mix with a wooden spoon or a Danish whisk and add the mashed potatoes, salt, and mix again. Add the flour, walnuts and raisins and mix until the flour has been completely incorporated.

Mix with a wooden spoon, cover and let rise for 2 and a half hours.

When the dough has risen, we pass it to the work surface sprinkled with flour. We give it a flat and somewhat oval shape. And we fold on itself folding from the right to the center and the same on the left. From bottom to center and from top to center. We turn so that the folds are down and form an oval ball with our hands simply pushing it gently from side to side with the palm of the hand open.

Put in a banneton (a basket to rest the bread) and sprinkle with flour and let stand 20 minutes

If you don't have banneton, you can put a cotton rag in a large bowl. Sprinkle with a little flour and let the bread rise for another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220 ºC with a 24 cm saucepan inside (I use an iron one that are best for baking bread). After this time, put the bread dough on a baking paper. Take out the saucepan and put the bread inside. Cover and bake for 35 minutes.

After this time, lower the temperature to 200 degrees, remove the lid. Put a bowl with 200 ml of water at the bottom of the oven and bake for 15 more minutes. When you put the pan back in the oven and before closing the oven door, pour a glass of water at the bottom. Yes, we throw away the water. This will create a lot of steam and make the bread come out with a very crispy crust.

Remove from oven and let cool before cutting. It is important to remove it from the saucepan and remove the paper and let it cool on a rack. This way it will stay crispy

Tips and Tricks

• *I use very strong flour that I buy at the Amasadero
• If you don't have a saucepan, you can do it in a round mold and cover it with two sheets of aluminum foil. The process is the same, although you may need a little more time. The heat of the iron helps with cooking, but it will be just as delicious and just as easy.
• If you want you can use fresh baker's yeast you will need 40 g
• If your saucepan is smaller, you can make a loaf of bread and make small buns with part of the dough
• Difficulty: easy
• Preparation time: 10 minutes + 2 and a half hours + 25 minutes + 60 minutes oven
• Servings: one kilo loaf of bread