What a stunner, you may well have seen this bread before. It’s the classic cranberry and rosemary Christmas wreath that has been part of my Christmas bread course for a couple of years now. It’s been all over Instagram and Facebook and even last weekend was tasted and discussed with me live on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch.

It’s a straight forward yeasted white dough with a little butter for flavour and softness. A touch of sweetness comes from the cranberries which for me makes it perfect for cheese just like the Chaource in this photo. A great example of a simple and straight forward bread dough turned into something really special with a little care and attention.

Serve it up with your end of evening cheeseboard or as part of your boxing day spread with cold cuts and pickles, it’ll make a beautiful centrepiece for a real celebration.

Merry Christmas!

Cranberry and Rosemary Christmas Wreath

Notes

This recipe will make one Christmas Wreath

Difficulty: Easy

My Kitchen Temperature: 21°C/70°F

Start to Finish: Around 3.5 hours

Ingredients

For the dough

6g           Fresh yeast (3g Dry Yeast)

160g       Room temperature water

250g       Strong white bread flour

4g           Salt

3g           Chopped rosemary

15g         Soft Butter

40g         Dried Cranberries

For decoration

Poppy & sesame seeds

Method

Making the dough

1. In a large mixing bowl weigh your yeast, add the water and mix together until the yeast is dissolved.

2. Next add the flour, salt, rosemary and butter.

3. Mix everything with your dough scraper until it comes together into a rough dough and then turn it out onto a clean table. Knead your dough well for 8 minutes.

4. Dust the table lightly. Spread out the dough on the floured surface as far as it will go without tearing and sprinkle over half of the cranberries. Pat them lightly with your palms to stick to the dough and roll them up inside like a swiss roll. Give the sausage a quarter turn and push flat again with your fingers and knuckles. Sprinkle the remaining fruit evenly over the top, pat it down and roll up again the same as before. Cup your hands underneath the dough, turning as you do so to make it into a rough ball shape.

5. Place the dough back into the bowl, dust the top and cover with a clean cloth and leave to rest at room temperature for 60-90 minutes

Dividing and shaping

6. When your dough has puffed up nicely dust the table with a little flour, turn the dough out onto it, and press with fingertips to de-gas and flatten slightly into a circle. Cut the dough into 4 equal sized pieces with your dough scraper.

7. One by one, flatten each piece of dough and roll up like a swiss roll into 4 short sausages, then roll them with your palms to a length of around 50cm. Dust them as little as you can while you roll them to stop them from getting sticky.

8. Now dampen a clean j cloth and put your seeds into two large bowls. Roll one of your stands of dough on the cloth to moisten all over and toss it in the bowl of poppy seeds to coat it. Do the same with another strand in the sesame seeds.

9. To shape your four-strand plait, place all four strands vertically on the table and pinch the tops together very lightly to join. Think of your four strands like two pairs. The left pair and the right pair. Starting with the right pair fold the right piece over the left. Then, do the same with the left pair, right over left. Next take the two pieces now in the middle and cross them left over right and that’s it! Repeat till the end:

Right over left, right over left, left over right in the middle.

10. When you get to the end, pinch it together firmly to stick the tips all together. Then return to the loose end and pick up where you left off, plaiting the strands at that end in exactly the same way, then pinch them together too. When both ends are done roll them with your palms to tidy them up and make them pointed. Bring both ends together to make your plait into a ring and place on a parchment lined tray.

Resting and baking

11. Cover your dough with a proving cloth and rest at room temperature for 45-60 minutes to prove up nicely. During this time preheat your oven to 200°C Fan/392°F/Gas Mark 6 with a deep tray on the bottom shelf. Boil half a kettle of water.

12. When you’re ready, load your bread into the oven. Tip the hot water into the tray beneath (be careful!) and close the oven door.

13. Bake your wreath with steam for 25-30 minutes until it has a nice crispy crust and is beautifully golden. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

tip

If you will be displaying your wreath as part of a cheeseboard, it’s really lovely to put a Chaource cheese or a baked camembert in the middle like I have in the photo. If you are, you’ll need to bake your wreath with something in the middle to make sure the hole is the right size and stays the right size while proving and baking. I use a ramekin, the same size as the cheese, buttered on the outside so it doesn’t stick to the bread. Put it in the middle of your ring in the shaping stage and remove it after baking.

Don’t forget…

You can share out your bread on Instagram using #bakewithjack and I’l see it!