Sunday, December 18, 2011

Edible Christmas Wreath

My family isn't really into Christmas. It's not a Chinese thing.




I, however, love it!


Green + Red = Christmas
Well.. I love any opportunity to stuff my face and open presents!


Step 7. Dot the filling evenly over the dough
Having spent last December in China, where Christmas means that the shops are open EVEN later and there are even MORE people on the streets, I was quite relieved that I would be spending Christmas at home and not trying to fight my way through crowds. 


8. Twist the two strands loosely together
Living in a relatively sparsely populated country has made me claustrophobic even in the smallest of crowds -even shopping at the mall near Christmas time makes me a little anxious!


9. Form into a ring
So this year, I'm going to eat, lay in the sun and, most importantly, spend Christmas with those I love (not with masses of strangers on the street).


Edible Wreath (From Alison and Simon Holst)






Ingredients for Dough:


3 teaspoon active dried yeast
1 1/4 cups warm milk
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
50g butter, softened
3 cups plain flour


Ingredients for Filling:


50g butter, softened
2 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup plain flour
3/4 teaspoon almond essence
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup red glace cherries, chopped
1/4 cup green glace cherries, chopped


Ingredients for Egg Glaze:


1 egg
1 Tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon sugar


Ingredients for Warm Icing (optional):


1 cup icing sugar
2 Tablespoon lemon juice


Method:
1. Measure the first 5 ingredients into a large bowl only using half of the flour. Mix thoroughly, then cover and leave for about 15 minutes.
2. Add the remaining flour and mix to form a soft dough, adding a little flour so that it's just firm enough to knead.
3. Turn the dough onto a floured surface a knead for about 10 minutes until the dough springs back with gently poked.
4. Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover and leave for about 30 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
5. Prepare the filling by mixing together the first 4 filling ingredients and adding the fruit and nuts afterwards.
6. Once the dough is ready, lightly knead and roll out into a 25 x 70cm rectangle.
7. Dot the filling evenly over the dough and then roll up tightly.
8. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll in half lengthwise and then twist the two strands loosely together.
9. Form into a ring on a baking sheet and brush lightly with egg glaze (everything mixed together).
10. Bake at 200°C for 20 minutes or about lightly browned.
11. Drizzle with icing (mix everything together) while still warm.

9 comments:

  1. Wow! That is one gorgeous looking wreath. I bet it tastes amazing, too. Mmm, I can just imagine tearing into that with a cup of coffee on Christmas morning. Happy holidays to you! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks amazing! Too pretty to eat. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like edible wreaths and decorations too, yours looks perfect as a centre piece!

    Ciao
    Alessandra

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wowww that looks amaazing lucy!! Seriously did a great job with it, and it looks like the real deal. :D haha, I get a little anxious in large crowds too, like the mall. So I try to not be there much.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ooh we did one last year but made of Christmas cookies! I like the idea of this one too with the green and red cherries !:)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow I love this idea! It looks gorgeous and I'm sure it tastes fantastic too. I'm thinking maybe I can do a savoury version of this too, with peas and bits of tomatoes with cheese on top perhaps? Both would be lovely :D thanks for the recipe and inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Good plan, that's what I'm doing too. Also for New Year's, lol. I love the wreath, glace cherries are awesome, I'll have to give this a go!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm in Taiwan now and I can totally see/feel Christmas is not so important here. Well in Japan it's really commercialized so it's kind of same but at least it's Christmas everywhere. Your wreath look BEAUTIFUL! I bet it tastes wonderful too!

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Christmas of the west country is like the spring festival to China. But the Christmas Day is becoming more and more important in China nowadays.

    ReplyDelete