PREPARATION IN ADVANCE

Place the flour for the preferment in the mixing bowl of a food processor outfitted with a dough hook. Crumble the fresh yeast over it, and pour the water in the bowl. Knead until a nice, smooth dough is formed. Of course, the dough can also be kneaded by hand.

Cover the preferment loosely with cling film and allow to rise in a warm, draught-free place for around 30 minutes.

Grate the zest from the orange. Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and scrape out the pulp.

Add the orange zest, vanilla pulp and the other ingredients to the preferment and knead to form a smooth dough.

Cover loosely with cling film and allow to rise in a warm, draught-free place for around 45 minutes until the volume has doubled.

Grease a round tin (approx. Ø 20 cm), such as the lid of the Green Dutch Oven (round),  with butter. Fold the edges in to create a nice round ball of dough, and place it in the tin with the overlapping edges facing down. Cover loosely with cling film and now allow to rise in a warm, draught-free place for around 30-35 minutes until the dough has doubled in size.

PREPARATION

Light the charcoal in the Big Green Egg and heat with the convEGGtor and the grid  to a temperature of 180°C. Meanwhile, for the topping stir the water into the almond paste and spread the diluted paste generously over the dough. Sprinkle with the shaved almonds and pearl sugar.

Place the Baking Stone on the grid and place the tin on top. Close the lid of the EGG and bake the almond bread for approx. 45 minutes until golden brown and done. The bread must feel firm, sounding a bit hollow when you tap it.

Remove the tin from the EGG, and remove the bread from the tin.