Cardamom Wreath Food

SWEDISH TEA RING (COFFEE BREAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk, add the butter and sugar, then the yeast and egg: Pour milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until steamy (but not boiling). Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and sugar until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl. Mix in yeast mixture and the egg.
• Add the spices, then gradually add the flour: Mix in the salt and cardamom. Slowly add in 2 cups of the flour. After the first two cups, gradually add more flour until a soft dough starts to form into a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• Knead the dough: Turn out onto a floured surface and knead dough for 7 to 10 minutes until smooth, OR use a dough hook in a stand-up mixer and knead the dough for 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from being too sticky. Note: the dough should remain soft, so take care not to add too much flour.
• Let the dough rise and double in size: Place the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean tea-towel or with plastic wrap. Let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Make 2 simple braids, or form 1 filled wreath: At this point you can make a simple braided bread if you want (2 loaves), by punching the dough down, dividing the dough in half, and then dividing each half into three equal parts, rolling the dough pieces into ropes, braiding them, and tucking the ends under. Or you can get more fancy, which is what we've done here, with a filling, and forming the dough into a wreath shape. The following directions are for the wreath form.
• Divide and flatten the dough into 2 rectangles: Press the dough down to deflate it a bit. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Take one part (saving the other for wreath number 2) and use your fingers to spread it into a 8-inch by 16-inch rectangle on a lightly floured, clean, flat surface. If you are having difficulty getting the dough to keep its shape, just do what you can and let it sit for 5 minutes before trying again. Like pizza dough, the dough needs time to relax while you are forming it. Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving at least a half-inch border on the edges so the dough will stick together when rolled.
• Make the filling and fill the dough: Mix together the brown and white sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle the dough with half of mixture (saving the other half for the second batch of dough). Sprinkle on more fillings, as you like, such as raisins, slivered almonds, or almond paste. You could even sprinkle on some cream cheese for a creamier filling.
• Carefully roll the dough and form a ring: Carefully roll the dough up lengthwise, with the seam on the bottom. Carefully transfer to a greased baking sheet. Form a circle with the dough on the baking sheet, connecting the ends together to make a ring.
• Cut the dough and shape the wreath: Using scissors, cut most of the way through the dough, cutting on a slant. Work your way around the dough circle. After each cut, pull out the dough segment either to the right or to the left, alternating as you go around the circle. The dough circle will look like a wreath when you are done. Repeat the steps with the rest of the dough, to form a second wreath.
• Let the shaped dough rise: Cover the wreaths lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm area for a second rise. Let rise for about 40 minutes to an hour; the dough should again puff up in size.
• Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Brush the dough with egg wash and bake: Whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Use a pastry brush to brush over the dough. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes of baking, if the top is getting well browned, tent with some aluminum foil.
• Cool, then drizzle with optional glaze: Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Meanwhile, whisk together the powdered sugar and water to create a final glaze (optional). Add more water if the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more powdered sugar if the glaze is too runny. Drizzle the glaze in a back and forth motion over the pastry.

CARDAMOM WREATH

Steps:

• 1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in 3 eggs, evaporated milk, yeast mixture, sour cream, orange peel, cardamom and salt; mix well.
• 2. Beat in 6 cups of flour until mixture is smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface: knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• 3. Punch dough down: turn onto a floured surface. Divide into six portions. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape each portion into a 24 inch rope. Place three ropes on a greased baking sheet and braid. It's easier if you pinch the three strands together at the top and then start to braid. Form into a ring. pinch ends tightly together. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 mintues.
• 4. Beat milk and remaining egg, brush over wreath. Sprinkle with almonds and sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. (Be careful to not over bake) Remove from pan to wire racks to cool.
• 5. In mixing bowl, mix all cardamon butter ingredients together until blended. Serve with bread.

CARDAMOM BUNS

Steps:

• Crack open 10 of the cardamom pods with a pestle and mortar, and tip into a saucepan. Add the milk and warm until steaming but not boiling. Add 50g butter (leave the remaining butter at room temperature to soften) and set aside to cool until lukewarm, swirling the pan from time to time to encourage the butter to melt.
• Put the flour, 75g of the sugar, the yeast, cinnamon and 1 /2 tsp salt into a large bowl, or the bowl of a freestanding mixer. Mix until well combined. When the milk has cooled, strain it through a sieve into the flour, discarding the cardamom. Using a wooden spoon or dough hook, mix to form a soft dough. Tip onto a work surface and knead for 10 mins, or run the freestanding mixer for 5 mins, until the dough is smooth and stretchy. Clean the bowl, lightly grease with oil, then return the dough to the bowl and turn it over until well coated in oil. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or cling film and leave to rise for 2 hrs or until doubled in size (you could prove it in the fridge overnight).
• Crack the remaining cardamom pods using a pestle and mortar. Prise them open and tip the seeds back into the mortar, discarding the pods. Crush the seeds to a powder, then combine with 150g sugar. In a bowl, mix the remaining butter with all but 2 tbsp of the cardamom sugar.
• Line two baking trays with parchment. Punch the dough down to knock out the air, then roll to a rectangle roughly 35 x 45cm, with the longer edge facing you. Spread the cardamom butter over the surface, right to the edges. Fold the top third down to the middle and the bottom third up, like an envelope, so you have three layers of dough. Score, then cut into 12 equal strips, measuring about 3.5 x 11cm each. Cut each strip down the centre, leaving it attached at the top. Twist each strip away from the centre two or three times, then tie the dough in a knot and tuck the ends underneath the bun. Put each on the tray when done.
• Cover both trays with a sheet of lightly oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for 30 mins - 1 hr, or until almost doubled in size. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5.
• Uncover the buns and brush all over with the beaten egg, then sprinkle with the pearl sugar. Bake for 20-25 mins until golden brown - swap the trays halfway through if they're browning unevenly.
• Tip the remaining cardamom sugar into a pan and add 50ml water. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool, swirling to dissolve the sugar. Brush the syrup over the buns two or three times as they cool, leave them to soak for 20 mins before eating. Will keep for 2 days in a sealed container, or freeze for 2 months. Defrost at room temperature and reheat for 5 mins in the oven before eating.

CARDAMOM WREATH BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the warm water and yeast; set aside for 5 minutes.
• 2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add granulated sugar. Beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add 3 eggs and beat until combined. Stir in the evaporated milk, sour cream, orange peel, cardamom, and salt. Stir in yeast mixture (mixture will look curdled). Stir in as much of the flour as you can with a wooden spoon.
• 3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total).
• 4. Shape the dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 1 hour).
• 5. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into six equal portions. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.
• 6. Roll each portion of dough into a ball. Roll each ball into an evenly thick rope that is 22 to 24 inches long. Line up 3 of the ropes, 1 inch apart, on the lightly floured surface. Starting in the middle, braid by bringing left rope underneath center rope; lay it down. Then, bring right rope under new center rope; lay it down. Repeat to end. On the other end, braid by bringing outside ropes alternately over center rope to center. (Braid the ropes loosely so the bread has room to expand.) Join ends of braid to form a wreath. Carefully transfer wreath to a greased baking sheet. Repeat braiding and shaping into a wreath with remaining three ropes for a second wreath. Cover; let rise until almost double in size (45 to 60 minutes).
• 7. Stir together the 1 egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Brush over tops of wreaths. If you like, top with sliced almonds or coarse sugar. Bake in a 375 degrees F oven about 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped (if necessary, cover wreaths with foil the last 5 to 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning). Remove from oven. Transfer wreaths to wire racks and let cool. Serve with Cardamom Butter.