First Christmas recipe! Oh boy this is my favorite time of the year. I got all my house garnished with Christmas decorations while I was baking this loaf of bread yesterday. My apartment smelled delicious!

This is a slightly sweet bread, very close to a brioche but a lot less heavy. It is perfect for breakfast or to serve at your Christmas lunch or to snack on during the afternoon.
I shaped it in a garland but you could make a regular loaf or smaller knots. Just get wild with it…..ok, not too wild…;)

Let me know how you like it!

Ingredients (make one loaf):

for the sponge

• 50 g of all purpose or bread flour
• 2 tbsp dry instant yeast
• 65 ml whole fat milk
• 1 tbsp sugar

for the bread

• 200 g all purpose or bread flour
• 60 ml whole fat milk
• 40 g sugar
• 100 g dry raisins
• 50 g candied fruits
• 45 g butter
• 2 small eggs

Let’s start off with the sponge. Heat up the milk to lukewarm, then add yeast and sugar, stir it and let it stand on your counter for about 10 min or until it becomes all freaky and bubbling

Next up, add 50 g of flour

Give it a stir

cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it stand in a warm place for about 30 min. it will double in size

In a bowl of your electric mixer add 200 g of flour, 40 g of sugar

Add the sponge

then take the raisins and soak them in warm water for about 10 min. Drain and squeeze out all the liquid. Add them to the bowl together with 60 ml of milk

and with the candied fruits

Add one egg, then gran the butter

melt it in your microwave

and pour it into the bowl

Now turn on your mixer to medium/slow and knit the dough for a good 10 min or until it gets nice, smooth and soft

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place for about 2 hour or until it doubles in size. This is how mine looked about 2 hours later…:)

Grab the bread and divide it into 3 pieces. Roll out each one into a long rope (about 2 cm thick and 50 cm long). Press the edges of the 3 ropes together and make a braid with them

Then link together the 2 edges to get a garland. Place it into a plastic bag (make sure the bag does not touch the bread) and let it stand in a warm place for about 40 min

Next up brush it with the remaining egg

and bake it at 180 C (375 F) for about 25-30 min. Remove it from the oven and let it cool down before serving

More Christmas recipes coming up soon!

Love

– LittleDani