Apricot & marzipan twist

Apricot & marzipan twist

Paul Hollywood's almond and apricot 'couronne' is crammed with fruit and nuts and is a great alternative to stollen

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

45 mins + overnight soaking and rising
Freezable

Method

  1. The night before, put apricots and orange juice in a bowl and set aside.
  2. To make the dough, put flour, 1 tsp salt, butter, milk, yeast and egg in a bowl, and mix together to form a dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6 mins.
  3. Transfer dough to a mixing bowl. Cover, then set aside to rise in a warm place for 1 hr.
  4. Meanwhile, drain the apricots. In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and muscovado sugar until fluffy. Mix in the apricots, flour, raisins, walnuts and orange zest.
  5. Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out to a rectangle, about 25 x 33cm. Evenly spread over the apricot mix, then roll out the marzipan and lay it on top. Roll up the rectangle tightly so it looks like a Swiss roll. Roll slightly, then cut lengthways along the roll, leaving 1 end joined. Twist 2 lengths together, then shape into a ring on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Set aside to rise for 1 hr.
  6. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bake the twist for 30 mins until risen and dark golden. Towards the end of the baking time, gently warm the apricot jam in a small pan. Brush the freshly baked loaf with the warm jam to glaze it, then set it aside to cool. Once cooled, drizzle the twist heavily with the runny icing.

PER SERVING

418 kcalories, protein 6.0g, carbohydrate 64.0g, fat 17.0 g, saturated fat 7.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 46.0g, salt 0.49 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2011.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo wendyMay

    06 December 2011

    wendyMay commented on this recipe

    I am quite new to baking bread, I saw this recipe in the good food magazine and decided to have a go. I thought I would have a dummy run before christmas. The result was - top marks for taste but - nil points for presentation. Fact is - I got in a bit of a �muddy puddle�. The problem was - the dough was very sticky, I found it very difficult to handle. I don�t think I kneaded properly as it did not rise very well. I left it for over an hour in the airing cupboard so it was in a warm place. Where did I go wrong? It looks so good in the picture and tasted lovely - I am determined to get it right. Any experts out there HELP please.

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  • Binder photo Phillipa

    06 December 2011

    Phillipa commented on this recipe

    I am interested in WendyMay's comment above as I am also about to do a dummy run (I will let you know how it goes Wendy) but my query is regards to the freezing of the Twist.. I want to know at which point you can freeze it? Should it be before or after you have baked it? Also I didnt think you could freeze marzipan, which has therefore added to my confusion! Please advise....!

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  • Binder photo Rachel014443

    08 December 2011

    Rachel014443 commented on this recipe

    Wendy, I haven't tried this recipe yet but it sounds like you need to knead the dough for longer, I would say about 10 minutes. To test if you have kneaded the dough for long enough, gather it up into a tight ball in one hand and then gently push a finger into the dough, if the dough slowly springs back then it�s done, if the in print of your finger stays then it needs a bit longer. I am going to try making it on the weekend, will let you know how I get on.

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  • Binder photo Phillipa

    09 December 2011

    Phillipa commented on this recipe

    Hello again. I've just made it, I added quite a bit extra flour to it as I was kneading - it was very sticky as you had described Wendy (I did it for 6 mins as recipe suggested). I left it to rise for more than an hour while I popped to a pre school nativity, and it was at least double the size when I got back. It looks lovely and I cant wait to tuck in. Still none the wiser on the freezing side of things though :-(

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  • Binder photo india377

    20 December 2011

    india377 commented on this recipe

    I made this recipe on Sunday as always like a challenge and wanted to take it a present into work. I make my own bread every week so used to the kneading side of things. The dough was sticky but I thought it was because of the addition of milk rather than water, I added slightly more flour when kneading and it was fine. Finish was fine and it double in size whilst in the oven. Didn't last long at work, the taste was amazing!

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  • Binder photo abradbu2

    27 December 2011

    abradbu2 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I gradually added more flour as I was kneading, just enough to not stick to surface/hands. Turned out great and everyone really liked it!

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  • Binder photo Food

    30 December 2011

    Food rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I agree it is a rather wet and sticky dough. I didn't add any more flour as I remember Paul Hollywood getting annoyed with people not following his recipes on the Great British Bake Off. I cheated a bit and stuck the dough ingredients in the bread maker machine on the dough setting then rolled it out gently between two pieces of clingfilm to avoid a mess. Looked quite impressive but only three stars on the rating as it is very sweet and rich, now I like such things but even so, think christmas pudding. I certainly wouldn't want it for breakfast!

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  • Binder photo Jo Smith

    03 February 2012

    Jo Smith commented on this recipe

    I am puzzled by the requirement for 10g of yeast - what I would term Fast Action yeast comes in 7g packets so I didn't know if you were expected to use one and bit packets. The other type of dried yeast comes in tins and requires activating before use so I didn't think that was the right type. I'm actually making a version of this now but using Delia's recipe for Stollen as the bread part as I know that recipe works! I'm also making it in two halves as I want to try one today and keep the other for an event tomorrow. And I'm too tight to buy a whole jar of Apricot Jam for the glaze so I'm going to try it with lemon marmalade.... You could say I'm not really following the recipe at all but instead using it for inspiration!

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  • Binder photo CocoMinx

    19 February 2012

    CocoMinx rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very tricky to shape, as mentioned before...tasted beautiful though and looks stunning so don't despair if it doesn't seem perfect. Will make again nearer Easter time, but will add dark chocolate chunks and dried cranberries. Yum!!

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  • Binder photo paula

    15 April 2012

    paula rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I also added more flour as my dough turned out to be quite sticky as well. It worked perfectly and it is very yummy!

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  • Binder photo Nain LLyn

    19 December 2012

    Nain LLyn rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this today. Changed a little of the recipe. I used Sultanas and currants instead of the Apricot and didn't soak them and added mixed spice, cinnamon and nutmeg and a little orange juice. The dough is very sticky as Paul says it should be. Had fun fighting with it at first !!!! but eventually it kneads into a lovely dough. The rise was amazing. I glazed it with 2 tbsp milk & 2 tbsp castor sugar brought to the boil and simmered for 2 mins and brushed over and then sprinkled with icing sugar. it was very tasty and moorish. How long does it keep for?

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  • Binder photo Monica

    25 December 2012

    Monica commented on this recipe

    I made two versions of this recipe and both were highly successful. One was made with Kamut flour which people with a wheat/gluten intolerance can often eat. Kamut flour does have some gluten in it, which you need for a good bread dough. This is a suburb recipe and will replace the Stollen I usually make. Just a tip for those who said the basic dough was sticky. Knead it more! Use a machine with a dough hook and give it the full 6 mins. Look for the gluten strands , then you'll get a soft but wonderfully elastic dough.

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  • Binder photo emma4

    12 May 2013

    emma4 rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is absolutely delicious - yes it's sweet but you don't need to have too much. The dough was fine as I kneaded it in my Kenwood mixer and the filling was easy to make but when I shaped the couronne the filling was exposed so when it baked it seeped out quite a lot and made it sticky. I'm also not very good at the shaping part so it looked pretty messy!! I'd definitely make it again as it's so delish but would make two individual rolls and seal the filling in, then twist together.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Cook time

Cook 30 mins

45 mins + overnight soaking and rising
Freezable

Ingredients

FOR THE DOUGH

  • 250g strong white bread flour
  • 50g unsalted butter , softened
  • 150ml whole milk
  • 10g fast-action dried yeast
  • 1 large egg , beaten

FOR THE FILLING

  • 120g dried apricots , chopped
  • 150ml orange juice
  • 90g unsalted butter
  • 70g light muscovado sugar
  • 35g plain flour
  • 60g raisins
  • 65g chopped walnuts
  • grated zest 1 orange
  • 200g marzipan

TO FINISH

  • 50g apricot jam
  • 200g icing sugar , mixed with enough water to make a runny icing
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PER SERVING

418 kcalories, protein 6.0g, carbohydrate 64.0g, fat 17.0 g, saturated fat 7.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 46.0g, salt 0.49 g

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