Almond Wreaths Food

ALMOND WREATHS

Steps:

• Combine butter and 1 cup powdered sugar in bowl. Beat at medium speed until creamy. Add egg, almond extract and salt; continue beating until mixed. Add flour; beat at low speed until well mixed. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic food wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Shape dough, one-half at a time, (keeping remaining dough refrigerated) into 1-inch balls. Cut each ball in half; roll each half into 4 1/2-inch rope. Gently twist two ropes together; shape into a wreath. Place 1-inch apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 7-8 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; removeto cooling rack placed over waxed paper.Cool completely.
• Combine all glaze ingredients in bowl; stir until smooth. Brush glaze onto cooled cookies using pastry brush; immediately sprinkle with decorations, as desired.

BRAIDED ALMOND-CREAM WREATH (KRANZKUCHEN)

Steps:

• To make the dough:
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Then add the milk and egg and stir briefly. Add the butter and knead the dough briefly by hand in the bowl. Scrape it out onto a lightly floured work surface and continue to knead it for several minutes. You may need to add 1 to 2 additional tablespoons of flour, but resist the urge to add more; the dough should be quite soft and rich. You won't be able to knead it as long as other yeast doughs, but try to get it to a point where it's no longer too sticky and can be formed into a ball.
• Place the ball back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean dishcloth and place in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour to rise.
• To make the filling:
• Place the raisins in a small bowl and add the rum and lemon juice. Set aside to macerate for 30 minutes.
• To assemble and bake:
• Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the almond paste, sugar, egg white, 1 tablespoon of milk, butter, and salt; knead together by hand until well combined. Knead in the raisins and their macerating liquid. The mixture should be creamy but will still hold its shape when spread. If necessary, mix in the remaining 1 tablespoon of milk. Set aside.
• When the proofing hour is up, gently tug the dough onto a work surface. Roll out the dough to a 13 by 16-inch/33 by 40cm rectangle. You can pull the edges out to form neat corners.
• Scrape the filling onto the dough and, using a bench scraper, spread the mixture out evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch/2.5cm border on one of the long sides. Starting from the other long side, roll up the dough. Using a sharp bench scraper, cut the roll of dough in half lengthwise, leaving about 1 inch/2.5cm at one end still attached. Working quickly, twist the 2 strands around each other all the way down the length of the roll. Then form the wrapped dough strands into a circle. Next, slice through the end that you left attached and tuck the end pieces at both ends underneath each other to make a neat closure.
• Transfer the wreath to the prepared pan (you may need someone to help you do this) and bake for 45 minutes at the second-lowest rack position, rotating halfway through. When finished, the loaf will be golden brown all over and should sound slightly hollow when tapped. It will still be quite soft.
• To make the glaze:
• Just before the end of the baking time, heat the apricot jam over medium-high heat until loose and bubbling. When the wreath emerges from the oven, immediately brush it all over with the hot jam. Place the pan on a rack to cool.
• When the wreath has almost fully cooled, sift the confectioners' sugar into a small bowl and whisk in the water. Whisk until smooth and lump-free. You want a thick but pourable glaze. Add more sugar or a drop more water as needed. Drizzle the glaze back and forth over the entire wreath. Wait 1 hour for the glaze to set and the cake to cool completely and then slice and serve. The cake is best eaten the day it is made, but it can be kept at room temperature, loosely wrapped in plastic wrap, for 2 additional days.

CRANBERRY-ALMOND HOLIDAY WREATH BREAD

Steps:

• 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.

MANDELKRäNZCHEN (ALMOND WREATHS)

Steps:

• Finely chop the almonds and set aside.
• Measure and sift the flour into a bowl.
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter until softened. Gradually add the sugar, creaming until fluffy after each addition.
• Beat one egg and the yolk of the second egg together keeping the white set aside for use the next day.
• Blend in slowly the beaten egg mixture making sure eggs are completely incorporated into the cookie mixture after each addition.
• Add flour into mixture in fourths, blending well after each addition.
• On a large sheet of cling wrap, put the mixture and then roll until mixture is completely wrapped. Refridgerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Remove one half of the dough from refridgerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface. Roll out 1/4 inch thick.
• Using a 1 3/4 inch lightly floured cookie cutter, cut rounds out of the dough.
• Using a 3/4 inch lightly floured cookie cutter, cut out the centers of the cookies.
• Mix the center pieces, reroll and cut more cookies out or just add the center pieces to the cookie sheets as extra smaller cookies. Your choice!
• Brush cookies lightly with the egg yolk from the second egg which has been lightly beaten. Sprinkle cookies with the chopped almonds.
• Bake at 350F for 10-15 minute With a spatula, remove cookies from sheet to cooling rack.
• Repeat with remaining cookie dough from refridgerator.

CHERRY ALMOND WREATH

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk and water. Add the eggs, butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest, cardamom and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 to 8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , In a small bowl, beat butter, flour, sugar, extract and lemon zest. Stir in almonds and cherries. Refrigerate. , Punch dough down. Turn on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 30-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Crumble filling over rectangle to within 1/2 in. of edges. , Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. With scissors, cut lengthwise down the middle of the roll; carefully turn cut sides up. Loosely twist strips around each other, keeping cut sides up. Shape into a ring and pinch ends together. Cover and let rise for 1 hour., Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until browned. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over warm coffee cake. Cool completely.

CHERRY ALMOND WREATH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a small bowl, combine the cherries, almonds, 1 teaspoons zest, and brown sugar; mix well.
• Unroll the breadsticks and place side by side. Press the seams together to form one large piece of dough.
• Spread the cherry mixture all over the dough. Roll jelly-roll fashion and press the end to the roll to form a seal. Place seam-side down on a prepared baking sheet. Join the ends together to form a large ring.
• Cut 1-inch slices in the top of the dough all the way around. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
• While the roll bakes, stir together the powdered sugar, orange juice, and the remaining 1 teaspoons zest. Drizzle over the warm wreath.