Festive Wreath

I have been long wanted to try baking Estonian kringel-shaped bread. The problem is, since I tend to add more water to my bread dough, they don't hold up well when shaped. Looking at the Festive Wreath photo that Michelle posted in the FFTO challenge post, it seemed that the time has already come. If Michelle could shape the dough as a wreath, I should be able to shape it as I wanted.

Realizing that I my disastrous baking attempts ratio are much higher than the successful ones, I decided to bake a full recipe (I usually halve recipes since I am cooking only for myself) and divide them into two halves. That way, in case I messed up with the kringel shaping process, I'd still have some spare dough to shape as normal wreath.

How did it turn up? The dough was sturdy enough, but again my carelessness kicked in: I cut and plaited the dough on the marble counter instead of the baking pan. Transferring the dough to the parchment-lined pan was not easy; I ended up with parts of the lovely plaits squashed up. Grrrrr.

Anyway, thanks Michelle for sharing the recipe. This is the first eggless sweet bread I baked in the past few months, and I was kinda surprised to find that it was all fluffy and soft, much more than I had expected.

Festive Wreath
from Utterly Scrummy Food for Families

For the dough:
3 tsp dried yeast
315ml lukewarm milk (I used semi-skimmed)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
50g softened butter
1 - 1 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice (optional)
420g standard plain flour (not bread flour)

1. If you're making the dough in a bread maker then follow the instructions for the machine and add the ingredients in the order that they instruct you to.
2. If you're making the dough either by hand or in a stand mixer then just put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly until you get a dough just firm enough to knead.
3. Then knead by hand on a floured surface, or knead using a mixer, for about 7 - 10 minutes until the dough forms a soft ball that springs back when lightly pressed.
4. Turn the dough in a greased bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place.  I just leave mine to rise in the stand mixer as the plastic guard seals the bowl nicely and it rises quite happily in there, and also because I can't be bothered washing up another bowl.
5. Near the end of the proving time make the filling so that it's ready to use as soon as the dough has proved.

For the filling:
50g softened butter
2 Tbsp Sugar
45g plain flour
1 tsp almond essence or 1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup slivered almonds (I didn't have any so left them out)
1/2 cup dried fruit or mixed peel (I normally use chopped dried apricots)
1/2 cup natural coloured glace cherries, well rinsed

1. Beat together the softened butter, sugar, essence/extract and flour to make a paste and then fold in the fruit and nuts (if you are using them).
2. Knead the dough for about a minute and then roll out in a large rectangle shape on a well floured surface.  Spread the filling over the dough and then roll it up, starting from the longest side.
3. Using a sharp knife slice the roll in half lengthwise.  Put the dough onto a baking sheet lined with non-stick baking parchment.  Twist the two halves lightly together, cut sides out, and form into a ring.  Pinch the ends together to seal the wreath.
4. Leave to prove again for about 45 minutes  - 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size and then glaze with lightly beaten egg or milk. (note: I used a mixture of 1 egg + 1 Tbsp milk for the glaze, then sprinkled the dough with sugar.)
5. Bake at 200C/Gas Mark 6/400F for 20 - 30 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked through.

Icing (optional):
1 cup icing sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp water

1. Mix all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle that over the wreath.

Don't forget to check out what other FFTO bloggers are baking this month!