Prep Time: 3 hrs
Total Time: 3 hrs 20 mins
Serves: 12,Yield: 1ten inch wreath
About This Recipe
“This bread makes a beautiful presentation. Great for a holiday brunch. I love to make bread and this is one of my favorites. The thing that makes it especially special is the way you cut and wrap the rolls. Very impressive. Prep time includes about 2 1/2 hours rising time.”
Ingredients
Bread Wreath
1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cupwater( about 110 F)
1/2 cupwarm milk
3tablespoonssugar
1/4 cupbutter, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoonssalt
1/2 teaspoonground cardamom
2largeeggs
1teaspoon lemon, rind of, grated
3 1/2 cupsall-purpose flour( approximately)
Cranberry-Almond Filling
1/4 cupbutter, at room temperature
1/4 cupall-purpose flour
2tablespoonssugar
2/3 cupslivered almonds, chopped
1/2 cupdried cranberries( or cherries, or 1/4 cup each chopped red and green candied cherries)
1/2 teaspoon lemon, rind of, grated
1/4 teaspoonalmond extract
Sugar Glaze
2/3 cuppowdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoonslemon juice
1tablespoonwater
Directions
1.
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl; stir briefly.
Let stand until foamy (about 5 minutes).
Stir in milk, sugar, butter, salt, cardamom, eggs, and lemon peel.
Using electric mixer (with a paddle attachment if you have one) or a heavy spoon, add 2 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, beating well after addition.
Then eat on medium speed for 3 minutes.
Add 1 1/4 cups more flour; beat until combined.
Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth (5 to 10 minutes) adding more flour as needed to prevent sticking.
Place in a greased bowl; turn over to grease top.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 1 1/2 hours).
Meanwhile, prepare filling.
In a medium-size bowl, combine butter,flour and sugar.
Beat until smooth.
Stir in almonds, dried cranberries, lemon peep, and almond extract.
Cover and refrigerate.
Punch doubled dough down and knead briefly on a lightly floured board to release ari.
Roll into a 9- by 30-inch rectangle.
Crumble filling dough to within 1 inch of edges.
Beginning at long side, tightly roll up dough, pinching edge against loaf to seal.
With a sharp knife, cut roll in half lengthwise, carefully turn cut sides up.
Loosely twist ropes around each other, keeping cut side up.
Transfer to a greased and floured baking sheet and shape into a 10-inch ring, pinching ends together to seal.
Let rise, uncovered, in a warm place until puffy (45 to 60 minutes).
Bake in a 375°F oven until lightly browned (about 20 minutes).
Transfer to a rack and let cool briefly.
Meanwhile, prepare sugar glaze.
In a small bow, combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water; stir until smooth.
Drizzle over warm bread.
Reviews
“This is my first attempt at a braided bread, and I think I didn’t roll it tight enough.Most of the filling ended up on top.But it sure tastes great!I used the real sugar in the bread so the yeast would work, but used Splenda in the filling and glaze.I might add a little more cardamom next time, though.I used half cranberries and half cherries in the filling.I am going to make this again!Thanks for posting.”