Holiday Breakfast Wreath

Every year for Christmas, my gramma makes a Swedish Tea Ring. It's basically cinnamon bun dough, filled with maraschino cherries, walnuts, butter, cinnamon sugar, shaped into a ring and covered with icing. It's amazing.


Since I knew I'd be having the Swedish Tea Ring at her house on Christmas Eve, I tried out this similar recipe for our office holiday party. It's a Holiday Breakfast Wreath, and it pretty much the same as the tea ring except that it's filled with dried cranberries and almonds instead of maraschino cherries and walnuts. It looks pretty impressive, and really isn't that hard. Plus it makes your kitchen (or your tiny apartment) smell amazing.


Holiday Breakfast Wreath
recipe from The Kitchn, adapted from Sunset Magazine recipe

Dough:
1 packet (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast (I used instant yeast)
1/4 cup warm water (about 110ºF)
1/2 cup warm milk (about 110ºF)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 large eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest
3 1/2 cups flour

Filling:
3/4 cup dried cranberries or cherries, soaked in 1/2 cup brandy or other liqueur
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/3 cup flour
3/4 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 tsp almond extract

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let sit for a few minutes until it's foamy. Add the milk, sugar, butter, salt, cardamom, eggs and lemon peel in your mixer. One cup at a time, stir in 2 cups of the flour. Add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a soft, workable dough. (You may not need to use all the flour, I only used about 3 cups)

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 to 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, drain the dried fruit from the liquer and combine the fruit with the rest of the filling ingredients. Cover and refrigerate.

When the dough has doubled in size, punch down and turn out until a lightly floured surface, kneading just enough to release any air bubbles. Your will need a large surface for this part (I just used my kitchen table). Roll the dough into a 9x30 inch rectangle. Crumble the filling over the dough to within 1 inch of the edges. Starting at one of the long edges, tightly roll up the dough, pinching the edge against the loaf to seal. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll in half lengthwise and turn the cut sides up. Loosely twist the two pieces together into, keeping the cut sides up, and shape into a wreath. See the pictures on the Kitchn for better instructions.

Carefully transfer the wreath to a greased and floured baking sheet, and let rise uncovered for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat oven to 350ºF and bake wreath for about 25 minutes, or until golden. While the wreath is baking, combine all the ingredients for the glaze. When wreath is done baking, transfer to a cooling rack to cool. After a few minutes, drizzle the glaze over the wreath.

You can prepare the wreath up to 2 days ahead of time, cooled completely and wrapped tightly in foil (save the glaze until your serve). Store at room temperature then re-heat at 350ºF for 10-15 minutes, drizzling the glaze right before serving.