Wow The Crowds Pull Apart Loaf

It was a momentous week at Meatland as we celebrated signing up our 4 000th newsletter subscriber. We value each and every one of you so, to mark this magical number 4, we're offering Meatland newsletter readers a fitting FOUR exclusive offers this week. See these detailed above. The sense of occasion continues here, as I share an incredibly versatile, celebratory recipe that you are sure to use always. I do hope you'll think of Meatland when you do! Amazingly, this easy to adapt dish can be used for savory or sweet, and its unique no-knife-needed presentation style is sure to impress. I've had loads of fun testing and perfecting the recipe and it's with pleasure - and thanks for your loyal readership - that I am sharing it with you.

BASIC YEAST DOUGH (See notes for parve) 1 cup milk 50 grams butter, cubed 2 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons instant yeast granules 2 eggs 4 1/2 cups plain flour Filling of your choice 1: Heat milk in a pot or microwave, pour over butter in your mixing bowl, and stir till melted. 2: Stir in sugar and salt then add yeast, eggs and 4 cups of flour and mix with a dough hook till all the flour is incorporated. 3: Slowly add the remaining flour, and continue mixing for 5 minutes, adding a tablespoon of flour if still too sticky. 4: Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour before assembling or refrigerating overnight. 5: To assemble, roll dough out on a floured surface into a rectangle shape, and cut into 3 or 4 long strips. 6: Generously add topping to each strip and then carefully stack strips on top of each other to make a single layered strip. 7: Cut into business-card size squares and then stack the layers of squares in a loaf tin. It doesn't matter if they stand up or lie sideways as long as they fit your tin. (See notes for alternative assembly method.) 8: Allow to rise for 40 minutes then brush with an egg wash of lightly beaten egg and water and bake at 180 C for approximately 30 minutes till golden. 9: Allow to cool before removing from tin and then serve warm or at room temperature. No cutting is necessary as diners can easily pull off slices. FILLING IDEAS FOR SAVORY LOAF Crumbled feta, pesto & sun-dried tomatoes. Garlic butter. Canned pumpkin, feta and pumpkin seeds. Sun-dried tomato pesto and sliced olives. Butter, rosemary and Parmesan. And more. FILLING IDEAS FOR SWEET LOAF Brown sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Lotus spread and chopped Chinese pecans or salted almonds. Canned apple, cinnamon, raisins and walnuts. Halva spread, crumbled halva and chopped dark chocolate. Date spread, chocolate chips and cinnamon. And more. COOK'S NOTES: Instant yeast is the dry granules sold vacuum-packed on the shelves. You can buy ready-made, frozen yeast dough if you must but this is way better. See end of newsletter for a parve alternative. As an easy alternative to the strip 'n squares assembly method, roll out pastry and cut into circles with a glass or round cookie cutter. Spread filling onto circles and then fold each in half. Stack these semi-circles in rows in your loaf tin with the flat side on the base of the tin and then allow to rise. Dough may be refrigerated overnight and this quantity makes two loaves. I like to make one sweet and one salty by simply changing filling ingredients. So versatile!