DianeLouise"sBlogg: Cousin Peggys Apricot Braid (also) Communion Bread

My Cousin Peg's
Apricot Braid

Adapted from an old fashioned recipe.

Where you had to knead by hand...

This is proportionately scaled down to work in a bread machine:

In the bread machine, first:

1/4 cup melted butter

1 scant cup hot water, adjust for your area (we use more water here because the flour is dried out by our low humidity)

2 TBsp sugar

1 egg

3/4 tsp salt

grated rind of one lemon

On top of that, add 3 cups flour

Make a depression in the flour, then add 1 pkg quick-rising yeast

Start the machine on sweet dough cycle.

When the "ADD" beep sounds, put in 1/2 cup raisins and 1/2 snipped dried apricots. Don't add the fruit or raisins too soon, or the bread machine will gnarl it into pulp. When the dough is done, divide in thirds, roll each 1/3 into a tube, braid the tubes, tuck the ends down a bit and put the whole thing into a greased bread pan to rise. When done rising, brush with an egg wash (beaten egg and TBsp of water).

Bake 350 oven for about 25 min, until loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

When cool, drizzle with frosting glaze.

Glaze is a pat of melted butter, a couple of TBsp of milk and about a tsp of almond extract... add powdered sugar to the above until it is the correct consistency... drippy with all of the lumps gone.