Bread Baking Babes bake a Yule Wreath

I bet you got all your baking scheduled for the holidays, still the Bread Baking Babes would like you to consider this one. It is such a versatile, easy to do-great effect bake that you might as well fit it into your schedule. Either savory or sweet the Swedish coffee ring could be just that addition to your lunch, breakfast or afternoon tea. Cookie Baker Lynn heads of our Kitchen table this month and from her Kitchen came this recipe.

Yule Wreath
(adapted from Betty Crocker's International Cookbook)
1.1/2 tsp instant dry yeast
240 ml cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup sugar
60 gr. butter, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
455 gr - 490 gr all-purpose flour

Stir yeast into the milk, add sugar, butter, egg, cardamom, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. (I didn't use all of the flour).

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface: knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Punch down the dough. Roll into rectangle, 15 x 9-inches, on a lightly floured surface.

Spread with your filling to within 1/4-inch of the edges. Roll up tightly, beginning at the wide side. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal well. Stretch roll to make even. With sealed edge down, shape into ring on lightly greased cookie sheet. Pinch ends together.

With scissors or kitchen shears, make cuts 2/3 of the way through the ring at 1-inch intervals. Turn each section on it's side (90 degree turn), to show off the pretty swirled filling. Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise until double, about 40 to 50 minutes.

Heat oven to 350 deg. F. Bake until golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. (If it browns too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil.)When cooled drizzle a simple glaze over the wreath: Mix until smooth: 1 cup powdered sugar 1 Tbsp water 1/2 tsp vanilla (add additional water 1/2 tsp at a time, if necessary). My sweet filling consisted of thinly rolled discs of marzepan, a drizzle of caramel, sprinkling of brown sugar and a mixture of walnuts and hazelnuts on top of that.

I made a savoury one as well, used thin cuts of ham, topped with sauteed lean ground beef seasoned with cumin, pepper and salt, nutmeg (drained to get rid of excess fat), sprinkled some cheese over it and proceeded to shape it in the form of an "S" to celebrate our Sinterklaas evening. Made some changes to the dough, substituted the butter for 3tbs olive oil, used somewhat more liquid and added herbs to the dough itself, omitted the cardamom and left the sugar out but for 1 tbs.

Verdict: I really need to bake this one again, the dough is so easy to work with and possibilities are endless! The kids preferred the savory one over the sweet, and I have another filling in mind... Like to see what my sister Babes baked? Go and have a look here: Notitie Van Lien (Lien), My Kitchen In Half-Cups (Tanna), Cookie Baker Lynn (Lynn), I like To Cook (Sara) , Grain Doe (Görel), Living On Bread and Water (Monique), Lucullian Delights (Ilva), The Sour Dough (Mary)

Edited for Buddy date: Bake with us and be a Bread Baking Buddy! Submit your entry by sending a mail to Cookie Baker Lynn by 31 December.