Christopsomo Greek Christmas Bread Food

CHRISTOPSOMO

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast, 1 cup flour, and 1/4 cup sugar over milk in a medium bowl. Cover, and let stand for 1 hour.
• Combine remaining 7 cups flour and 1 1/2 cups sugar, the anise seeds, salt, orange zest, and mastic gum if desired. Make a well in center of mixture, and add milk mixture, melted butter, and eggs. Mix together ingredients using your hands. Once combined, turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead, adding more flour if needed, until smooth and supple, about 15 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Butter two 9-inch springform pans. Punch down dough, divide in half, and roll each half into a 24-inch-long log. Coil each log into a mounded circle (similar to a snail shell). Transfer each to a prepared pan. Cover with plastic, and let rise until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush egg wash over tops of loaves, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pans, and remove bread. Let cool completely on wire rack.

CHRISTOPSOMO (GREEK CHRISTMAS BREAD)

Steps:

• Mix the yeast with 1/2 cup of warm water and 2 tablespoons of flour, stir until dissolved and set aside for 10 minutes, until it bubbles.
• In a large mixing bowl, sift the salt with 2/3 of the flour.
• Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, the remaining warm water, and the wine.
• Mix until a soft dough forms, cover with waxed paper and a damp towel, and set aside to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
• Punch the dough down and knead for several minutes until any air pockets are gone.
• Sift in the remaining flour, add the oil, orange juice, brandy, and grated orange peel.
• In a small bowl, mix the sugar, raisins, walnuts, pine nuts, anise, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg until blended, and add to the dough.
• Knead well until the dough is firm and doesn't stick (about 10 minutes), cover, and allow to rise for 1/2 hour.
• On a lightly buttered baking pan, shape the bread into two circular loaves, about 8 inches in diameter.
• Cover with a dry cloth and a damp cloth over that, and place in a warm place to rise again, until doubled in size.
• Using a floured knife, score a cross into the top of the loaves, and place one whole, unshelled walnut at the center. Brush the bread with milk and scatter with sesame seeds.
• Place a pan with at least 1 inch of water in the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450°F
• Place the bread in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then remove the pan with the water, reduce heat to 390F and bake for another 25-30 minutes.
• Remove from oven, brush lightly with water, and cool on a rack.
• Decorate Your Christmas Bread: After the second kneading, pull a fistful of dough from each loaf. Pat the dough back into shape to rise. When risen, use the small pieces of dough to create designs. Make them into the shapes of your choice and place on top of the loaves. Continue with the recipe.

GREEK CHRISTMAS BREAD

Steps:

• PREPARATION NOTES: Melt the butter, chop the dried figs, chop the apricots and chop the almonds.
• Place yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 2 tbsp flour, salt and warm water into a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast and sugar. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about 15 - 20 minutes or until frothy.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat together 4 eggs, the remaining sugar and the milk. Stir in the frothy yeast mixture, 6 1/2 cuts of the remaining flour and the vanilla extract. Stir in the melted butter then the remaining ingredients.
• Mix to form a stiff dough, then turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes (add remaining flour if needed). The dough should smooth and soft.
• Return the dough to the cleaned mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours or until doubled in size. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough back to its original size. Return to the bowl again, cover and leave in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
• Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Roll each portion into about a 12 inch rope and braid three of them together, molding the ends together to seal. Repeat with the other three ropes and make another braid. Place each braid o a lightly oiled cookie sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for a final 40 minutes until the braid has risen.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and glaze the tops of both braids. Bake the bread for about 30 minutes, or until golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath. Transfer to a wire rack to cool before serving.