How to make
Soak the dried fruit in rum. Dissolve the yeast in 2/5 cup of milk - slightly warmed. Add a spoonful of sugar and 2.8 oz (80 g) of flour and mix well. Cover with a towel and leave it for 20 minutes, until this first dough doubles in volume.
Pour the remaining milk (warmed to body temperature) to the risen main dough. Pour the sugar (crystal), beat the eggs and beat everything with a mixer with dough attachments. Beat for a longer time, about 4-5 minutes, until you see the gluten bonds forming.
Without stopping the mixer, start adding the butter and lard little by little, until they are completely absorbed.
Chop the dried fruit and dates into pieces and along with the rum and lemon peel, (finely grated) add them to the soft dough and mix. Cover the dough with a towel and leave to rise for 1 hour.
Grease the surface of a high bundt cake mold - 2 liters capacity. Sprinkle almonds on the bottom and you can stick them on the walls.
Pour the mixture into the mold and leave it to rise a second time, again for at least 1 hour in a warm room.
Put the sweet bread in a preheated oven at 360°F (180°C) and bake for about 40 minutes or until a dark golden brown color is obtained.
After you remove it from the oven, remove from the mold, so that it does not get moist inside and leave it to cool completely on a wire rack.
Sprinkle the cake with powdered sugar, cut it into pieces and serve it.
Have a sweet and happy holiday!
