My Christmas Bread
Every year I make my world-famous Christmas Bread. It's not really world-famous. But I've made it every year since middle school, so for those keeping track at home, that would be, um, seventeen years, give or take a year. I usually make it for my family (for Christmas Day morning), my grandparents in Maine (for our family reunion) and M's family (I have no idea when they eat it). I just made M's family's bread, and now it's chilling in the freezer until she heads to Pennsylvania. And there was a little extra dough, so, you know, we get a little tasty treat a couple of mornings this week. :D
Tasty Treats! And how-to instructions beneath the cut!
Recipe:
4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. yeast
3/4 tsp. lemon peel
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 egg
You mix 1 cup of the flour w/ the sugar, salt, yeast and lemon peel. Then I melt the butter in the microwave, and then add the milk and water. I do it like that b/c the butter takes longer to melt than the milk & water need to warm up. Anyhow, then I nuke the butter, milk and water together for somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds. You want it hot enough to activate the yeast, but not hot enough to kill the yeast. Toasty warm, I would call it. Sorry, that's not precise. At any rate, you pour that into the bowl w/ the dry ingredients and add the egg and 1 more cup of flour. Mix it up, add another cup of flour, mix it up, and add one more. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for about ten minutes, until the dough is elastic-y. Place in a greased bowl (drop the dough in, then pick it up and drop it in again so both sides of the dough are a little greased), put a cloth over the bowl, and let it rest in a warm spot for an hour to rise.
Kneadable Dough! Risable Dough! (It's the lighting that makes it look radioactive!)
On to the filling:
melted butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Confession: I always make more of this stuff. I like my bread oozing sugar and cinnamon! But you might not like that, so. The melted butter is just a couple of tablespoons or what have you. So after an hour of rising, punch down the dough and roll out on a floured board. I usually don't use all the dough b/c it makes a huge bread -- this time I made the bread and four large cinnamon buns. Anyhow, you slice the bread into three long strips and spread the butter w/ a pastry brush on each strip (do one at a time), and then sprinkle the sugar mixture on top.
Flatbread! God's not on it. And the filling. I roll the dough up, and then pinch it closed along the seams, and then I flatten the pinched seams to get them to stay closed. And then I braid it.
Braiding the dough, and the finished braid. Then I cover it w/ a cloth and let it rise one more hour. I usually do this regardless if I used the super fast-rising yeast. The bread is baked in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. But be on guard! No one wants burnt bread. Cover it w/ foil if it's starting to get TOO golden.
Baked and decorated bread! I chop maraschino cherries and use the following recipe for my icing:
1 c. confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix it up and dollop it over the bread. And then add the cherries!
And that's it! World-famous Christmas Bread. A holiday tradition from my family to yours. Another holiday tradition is the Chocolate Swap, and I just need to show you the goods for that:
Dudes, this was divided amongst THREE people. I am never coming down off this high!
Tasty Treats! And how-to instructions beneath the cut!
Recipe:
4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 pkg. yeast
3/4 tsp. lemon peel
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. water
1/2 c. butter
1 egg
You mix 1 cup of the flour w/ the sugar, salt, yeast and lemon peel. Then I melt the butter in the microwave, and then add the milk and water. I do it like that b/c the butter takes longer to melt than the milk & water need to warm up. Anyhow, then I nuke the butter, milk and water together for somewhere between 30 and 60 seconds. You want it hot enough to activate the yeast, but not hot enough to kill the yeast. Toasty warm, I would call it. Sorry, that's not precise. At any rate, you pour that into the bowl w/ the dry ingredients and add the egg and 1 more cup of flour. Mix it up, add another cup of flour, mix it up, and add one more. Turn out onto a floured board and knead for about ten minutes, until the dough is elastic-y. Place in a greased bowl (drop the dough in, then pick it up and drop it in again so both sides of the dough are a little greased), put a cloth over the bowl, and let it rest in a warm spot for an hour to rise.
Kneadable Dough! Risable Dough! (It's the lighting that makes it look radioactive!)
On to the filling:
melted butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. chopped walnuts
Confession: I always make more of this stuff. I like my bread oozing sugar and cinnamon! But you might not like that, so. The melted butter is just a couple of tablespoons or what have you. So after an hour of rising, punch down the dough and roll out on a floured board. I usually don't use all the dough b/c it makes a huge bread -- this time I made the bread and four large cinnamon buns. Anyhow, you slice the bread into three long strips and spread the butter w/ a pastry brush on each strip (do one at a time), and then sprinkle the sugar mixture on top.
Flatbread! God's not on it. And the filling. I roll the dough up, and then pinch it closed along the seams, and then I flatten the pinched seams to get them to stay closed. And then I braid it.
Braiding the dough, and the finished braid. Then I cover it w/ a cloth and let it rise one more hour. I usually do this regardless if I used the super fast-rising yeast. The bread is baked in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. But be on guard! No one wants burnt bread. Cover it w/ foil if it's starting to get TOO golden.
Baked and decorated bread! I chop maraschino cherries and use the following recipe for my icing:
1 c. confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Mix it up and dollop it over the bread. And then add the cherries!
And that's it! World-famous Christmas Bread. A holiday tradition from my family to yours. Another holiday tradition is the Chocolate Swap, and I just need to show you the goods for that:
Dudes, this was divided amongst THREE people. I am never coming down off this high!