2Tablespoonsshortening, butter or lard, at room temperature
1largeegg
1teaspoonvanilla
Filling:
1pintfresh blueberries, or thawed frozen blueberries
1/4cupwhite granulated sugar
2teaspoonsfreshly squeezed lemon juice
1Tablespoonall purpose flour
Glaze:
2cupsconfectioners/icing sugar
1 1/2teaspoonlight corn syrup, or golden syrup
1/4teaspoonsalt
1/4teaspoonvanilla
1Tablespoonwhite granulated sugar
1/3cupwater
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Instructions
For the dough: In a large bowl with a spoon or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the yeast to the 1/2 warm water. Add the 2 tsp. of sugar, stir and let stand 5 minutes.
When yeast is ready, add the white sugar, baking powder, mace (or nutmeg), salt, shortening, egg, vanilla and 1 cup of the flour and mix together with the paddle attachment on low speed for 1 minute (to break up the shortening). Switch to the kneading hook and add a second cup of the flour and again, mix until combined. Knead with the hook, adding small increments of additional flour, as needed, until the dough comes together and cleans the bowl. You may not need to use all the flour amount. Knead on medium for about 2 minutes more. The dough should be smooth and but still a bit moist (but not sticky).
Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set-aside to rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
Meanwhile, make the blueberry filling. Place the blueberries, sugar, lemon juice and flour into a medium bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
Prepare an 8x4-inch or 4x10-inch loaf pan by greasing well, then lining the bottom and sides with a piece of parchment paper, letting the parchment overhang the sides by a couple of inches (so you can use the paper overhang as handles to lift the bread out of the pan after it is baked). Set aside.
When bread has finished it's first rise, remove to a lightly floured surface and roll into a 10-inch x 10-inch square. Sprinkle the blueberries over one half of the dough. Fold the empty side of the dough over the side with the blueberries. Using a sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the dough into 1/2-inch wide strips from top to bottom. Repeat cutting 1/2-inch strips from side to side, so you end up with small chunks of dough.
Place dough chunks into prepared loaf pan, tossing any loose blueberries into the pan as well. Try to keep the chunks on the top of the loaf relatively even (without any pieces sticking up too much). Cover the pan with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and allow to rise until doubled again, about 30-45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
When dough has doubled, remove the plastic wrap and bake in the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 195F when tested with an instant-read thermometer. Check the loaf at about 30 minutes and loosely cover the top with a sheet of aluminum foil for the last part of baking if it looks at risk of over-browning.
Remove from oven and allow loaf to cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edges and lift from the pan to a cooling rack. Gently remove the parchment and allow to cool further before glazing. (The loaf can still be a bit warm when glazing, just not hot. You can also glaze it after it is completely cooled).
Prepare the glaze. Add the icing sugar, corn syrup, salt and vanilla in a large bowl. Set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the water and white granulated sugar to a boil over high heat then reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 minute. Add this mixture to the bowl with the icing sugar and whisk until all the sugar and has been incorporated and the mixture is smooth. Set aside.
Notes
Be sure to read the notes above the recipe card, for more tips for making this recipe.