Bishop's Bread Recipe

4.50 from 42 votes

Bishop's Bread is a classic European recipe that uses leftover egg whites, candied fruits, nuts, pieces of chocolate, dried fruits, etc. This sweet bread is baked around holidays. Makes two loves.

Prep Time20

Cook Time40

Total Time1

Course: Sweet Breads, Muffins and Scones

Cuisine: Romanian

Servings: servings

Calories: 128kcal

Author: Gabriela

Equipment

KitchenAid Mixer

Ingredients

10 egg whites from 10 large eggs
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 medium lemon, use the zest and juice
16 tablespoons melted unsalted butter 2 sticks + 1 ½ tablespoons OR 8.8 ounces
1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cups nuts walnuts, hazelnuts, pecans etc- choose what you like
½ cup raisins or other chopped dried fruits combined with candied fruits like orange peel

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
Butter and flour the insides of two loaf pans.
Zest the lemon. Melt the butter and mix it with the lemon zest. Set it aside.
Measure the nuts, then roast them in a pan on the stove for 2-3 minute to develop their aroma. Chop them but not very small.
Measure the ingredients and set them aside. Sift the flour.
Place the dried and candied fruits in a little bowl and squeeze the juice from half lemon over them.
In a clean mixer bowl place the egg whites and the salt. Beat the egg whites to a soft peak.
Add the sugar, all at once and continue to beat them to a stiff peak, exactly the same way you would beat the egg whites for a meringue. They have to look stiff and glossy.
Add the rest of the ingrediends all at once.
Very important! Do not add the dry ingredients one by one. Mixing the egg whites too much makes them lose all the air built by beating them stiff and the recipe will be ruined. Your breads will be dense, small and gummy.
With large moves and using a spatula, incorporate the ingredients slowly. The easiest way is to move the spatula from underneath to the surface, making sure you touch the bottom and the walls of the bowl.
Add the rest of the butter and incorporate it slowly making sure you have a pretty homogenous mixture.
Immediately pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and level the batter gently.
Place the pans in the oven and DO NOT OPEN the oven’s door for the first 25 minutes. These breads will bake for about 35-40 minutes.
If you have an oven that burns in certain areas and you need to move the pans around to make sure they bake everywhere, move them, but only after the first 25 minutes.
Check the breads with a toothpick in the middle and make sure the toothpick comes out clean and dry. If it comes out sticky and with batter on it, return the breads to the oven and bake them 1-2 minutes more.
When ready, remove the pans from the oven and let them cool for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you can remove them from the pans, on a metal rack and allow them to cool completely.
The easiest way to cut it is using a serrated knife.
The bread can be frozen up to 3 months for later consumption.

Nutrition