Bérawecka

Ingredients

• For the initial pear soak (48 hours)
• 500 g dried pears, whole or halved, stoned
• 150 ml Alsatian kirsch, from Fougerolles or the Vosges; plus more throughout
• 150 ml warm water
• For the seven-day maceration
• 150 g dried figs, stems removed, quartered
• 150 g dates, stoned, halved
• 150 g prunes, stoned, halved
• 100 g walnuts, lightly toasted, roughly broken
• 100 g hazelnuts, lightly toasted, skins rubbed off
• 100 g blanched almonds, lightly toasted
• 80 g candied citrus peel, mixed lemon and orange, cut into small dice
• 200 ml Alsatian kirsch, sufficient to submerge fruit; reserve some for brushing and muslin
• For the spiced bread dough
• 300 g plain wheat flour
• 7 g instant dried yeast
• 30 g caster sugar
• 40 g unsalted butter, softened
• 150 ml warm water, adjusted to achieve a workable dough
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground clove
• ¼ tsp ground star anise
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ tsp ground coriander, optional
• 5 g fine salt
• For finishing and ageing
• 60 ml Alsatian kirsch, for brushing loaves before baking and for soaking muslin
• 2 lengths muslin cloth, sufficient to wrap each loaf completely

Method

1. 1
   Place the dried pears in a bowl and pour over 150 ml kirsch and 150 ml warm water. Cover and leave at room temperature for 48 hours, turning the pears once after 24 hours. The pears are ready when they are visibly plump and yielding to gentle pressure.
2. 2
   Drain the soaked pears, reserving any liquid. Cut the pears into large pieces and combine in a wide bowl with the figs, dates, prunes, toasted walnuts, toasted hazelnuts, toasted almonds, and candied peel. Pour over 200 ml kirsch and the reserved soaking liquid. Cover tightly and macerate for seven days at cool room temperature, turning the mixture daily with a wooden spoon. By day seven, the kirsch should smell deeply of fruit and spice and every piece of fruit should be glistening and saturated.
3. 3
   On baking day, mix flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and all spices in a large bowl. Rub in the softened butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add warm water gradually and knead to a smooth, lightly enriched dough — it should be pliable and slightly tacky but not wet. Allow to rest, covered, for 45 minutes until just risen and alive to the touch.
4. 4
   This is the step where the Bérawecka lives or dies: drain the macerated fruit, reserving the kirsch, and fold the entire fruit-and-nut mass into the dough. The dough must bind the fruit — not the other way round. Work the mixture with wetted hands (use reserved kirsch, not water) until the fruit is evenly distributed throughout. The finished mass should be 70–75% fruit and nuts; if the dough appears to dominate, the ratio has failed. The mixture will be very heavy and dense, barely cohesive.
5. 5
   Divide the mixture into two equal portions and shape each into a fat, compact oval loaf on a lined baking tray, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets. Brush the surface of each loaf generously with kirsch. The surface should glisten and smell sharply of cherry spirit.
6. 6
   Bake at 160°C for 60–75 minutes. The loaves are done when they are firm to the touch across the entire surface, deeply coloured to a dark mahogany, and the kitchen is permeated by a warm scent of spice and kirsch. A skewer inserted into the centre should meet dense resistance with no wet batter adhering.
7. 7
   Cool the loaves completely on a wire rack — at least two hours. Soak two lengths of muslin in kirsch until fully saturated. Wrap each cooled loaf tightly in the kirsch-soaked muslin, then in a second layer of greaseproof paper. Store in a cool, dark place for a minimum of two weeks, traditionally until Epiphany on 6 January. The wrapping should remain faintly damp and aromatic throughout; re-moisten the muslin with kirsch after the first week if it has dried.
8. 8
   To serve, unwrap and slice paper-thin with a sharp knife. The interior should be a mosaic of jewel-dark fruit held by a thin mortar of spiced bread, yielding cleanly to the blade without crumbling.