Holiday bread wreath

I love baking bread. I usually use a bread machine to make dough, shape it and let rise and bake it.
For Nebraskan runza and Piroshki, I kneaded dough by hands. It is very useful to know how to make bread from scratch to teach Hum Bao. Although my recipe of Hum Bao is for my cooking class, I share my holiday bread recipe here. If you don't have bread flour in your kitchen, try with 3 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour instead of partial bread flour. I think the result will still be great.

I got Kitchen aid mixer for Christmas. I will use it to make my bread soon.

Holiday bread made with bread machine

        from Prune Kitchen Seattle

If you have bread machine, try this recipe to make sweet dough. The dough is good for breakfast bread as well as for a holiday bread.

Ingredients

3 cups Bread flour

½ cup Unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup and 2 Tablespoons Water

2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

1 Egg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 ½ teaspoons active yeast

½ cup sugar

1 Egg plus 1 Tablespoon of water to make egg wash

Duration: 3 ½ hour

Direction

1. Place all ingredients except egg wash in pan of bread machine.
2. Select dough cycle and make dough. It generally takes about one and a half hour.
3. Meanwhile, cut parchment paper to the size of pizza baking dish.
4. After the dough cycle is completed, dust the flour on a cutting board and put the dough on the board.
5. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll dough and make 3 ropes.
6. Mold the ends of the 3 ropes together and braid the rest of dough while stretching the rope.^*
7. Pinch the end of the ropes together to make a wreath.
8. Rise the dough for one hour in warm place until it doubles size. Possibly longer.
9. Preheat oven to 350 degree
10.  Brush the egg wash on wreath dough. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
11. Cool and decorate with frosting made of 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2-3 Table spoon milk. Sprinkle red and green sugar (Optional)

IF YOU KNEAD BY HANDS, use all ingredients above except 3 Table spoons of yeast.  

  ^*Notes: To have nice results, braid the rope loose and gently.

Fumiko's Holiday bread made by Bread machine(PDF printer friendly version)