Sunday, November 29, 2009

Christmas Wreath

A wonderful Christmas treat to take to holiday parties and 'wow' everyone is a Christmas Wreath. Our family tradition is to have this wreath for breakfast and use it as our 'birthday cake' to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus. You can also use the basic bread recipe to make the wreath but the sweet dough recipe really is yummy. The filling is out of this world.

Sweet Dough for Wreath1 Tbs. yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm milk
3 Tbs. sugar or Xagave
1 stick of butter
1 1/2 tps. salt
2 eggs
1 tsp. grated lemon peel (I usually leave this out)
3 1/3 cups white wheat flour

In Bosch mixer, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and lemon peel. On speed 1, add 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour. Knead 6 minutes. Cover and let double in size (about 1 1/2 hours.) Note: the dough will be heavy. Roll dough into rectangle; add filling; roll up like a jelly roll; slice lengthwise; braid two parts. Let rise. Bake 350 degrees 45 min. or until golden brown.

Filling:8 Tbs. butter melted
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs. sugar or Xagave
2/3 cup finely chopped almonds
1 cup chopped red and green candy cherries
1 tsp. almond extract.








1 comment:

  1. A customer asked these questions and here were my answers!! :)
    1. Did you make a double batch, I didn't have near that much filling?

    2. How long do you let it rise once it's in the wreath shape, I didn't see a time there?

    3. What did you put on your counter before you rolled out the dough? Mine was so sticky I could barely get it off my table. I used butter first, then went to oil and was thinking maybe i should have used flour.

    The pictures are so helpful. I'm sure it's going to taste great, but I need to figure out why mine didn't turn out like the pictures:)

    Technically, you are not supposed to double the filling but I do as I love the filling. :) Oil your surface to keep it from sticking. If the dough is real sticky....just add more flour in the kneading stage. It will be a heavier dough. I usually let it double to make the wreath. It will rise in about 20-30 minutes.

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