Christmas Wreath Bread
Christmas Wreath Bread filled with blackberry pear compotes, shaved dark chocolate, and pecan pieces. Perfect Holiday Bread Recipe!
Servings 12 Slices
Ingredients
Dough
- 2 ¼ tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Cup (250 ml) Warm Almond Milk
- 3 Tbsps Granulated sugar
- ¼ Cup (62.5 g) Unsalted Butter, melted
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Tbsp Water
- 1 Egg
- 3 ½ Cups (875 g) All Purpose Flour
- ¾ tsp Kosher Salt
Blackberry Pear Compote
- 3 Cups Blackberries
- 2 Bosch Pears peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 3 Tbsp Cornstarch
Filling
- 1 Cup Dark Chocolate Pieces chopped
- 1 Cup Chopped Pecans
Instructions
Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer add yeast, sugar, and warm milk. Gently whisk together and Let sit 5-10 minutes until frothy.
- Using paddle attachment, mix in the egg, water, salt, vanilla, and butter on medium low.
- Switch to the dough hook and slowly spoon in flour on medium low speed.
- Once the flour is incorporated, turn up to medium-high and beat the dough for 5 minutes.
- Tear off a small piece and do a windowpane test.(stretch dough with fingers and hold up to light, if you can see through the dough without it breaking, then its ready).
- If dough isn’t ready, beat or hand knead for an additional 5 minutes.
- Shape dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled or floured bowl.
- Cover with plastic wrap, place in a warm draft free location. Let sit for an hour or until doubled in size.
Make Compote
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the blackberries, chopped pears, lemon juice, cornstarch, and sugar.
- Bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes then turn down to medium-low heat until the berries start to break down. Stir often for 5-8 minutes.
- Lower the heat and simmer until the liquid becomes thicker, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat and let cool down slightly.
- Use one of two methods for compote.
- (#1) Drain fruit through a sieve and only use thick chunks of fruit.
- (#2) Use immersion blender in a bowl or put compote into a regular blender and pulse compote until smooth like jam.
- Keep in an air tight container in fridge.
Make Bread
- Preheat oven to 350 F (190 C). Line bottom of springform pan with parchment paper and spray non stick spray on the sides.
- Remove plastic from risen dough.
- Slowly punch your fist down into the dough to remove excess air.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Using a bench scraper or large knife divide the dough into 2 equal portions.(weigh each portion to be exact)
- Take one half and roll out into a large rectangle (⅛-1/4 inch thickness). Doesn’t have to be exact. (Dust rolling pin with flour.)
- If you use fruit chunks, paint a thin coat of melted butter onto dough leaving a half inch border around edge.
- If you use compote in a blended jam, spoon only compote in a thin layer onto dough leaving a half inch border around edge.
- Sprinkle chocolate and pecan pieces onto fruit.
- Roll the dough inwardly lengthwise to create a cylinder shape.
- Take your knife and slice the rolled dough lengthwise into fourths. This should create four small rolled logs.
- Repeat with other half of dough.
- Take the log pieces and begin to place them in the pan in a circular shape.
- Set one log down and continue laying them overlapping each other in a circle until a circle is made.
- Cover the pan loosely with a cloth and let puff for an additional hour.
- Once puffed place springform pan on cookie sheet and place in the oven.
- Bake for 35-45 min until golden brown and dough center has reached 190F.
- If bread is browning too quickly cover with aluminum foil halfway through baking. Also I recommend removing outer ring of springform pan halfway through baking to encourage even temps. (Remove from oven, take off outer ring carefully with oven mitts and then place bread still on bottom of pan on cookie sheet back in the oven.)
- Remove wreath and set pan on wire rack to cool for 5-10 min.
- Brush with honey and serve!