Christmas Tree Bread Recipe - Festive and Sweet Holiday Bread (2024)

FAQs

What is Christmas bread made of? ›

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the evaporated milk, sugar, shortening, salt, eggs and 2 cups of flour; beat until smooth. Stir in mixed candied fruit and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (do not knead). Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top.

How long can I proof my bread dough in the fridge? Generally, I like to proof bread dough in the fridge for 10 to 16 hours (usually overnight, baking it the next day in the morning).

Put the bread dough in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a day. Choose a container that's twice the size of the dough. Dough can double in size in a single day in the fridge, which can make it spill out of smaller containers. Store the dough in the refrigerator after the first rise.

From the Italian panetto or small cake, panettone is a large fruity enriched sweet bread, typically served during Christmas throughout Italy and in Italian communities around the world.

Panettone (/ˌpænɪˈtoʊni/, Italian: [panetˈtoːne]; Milanese: panetton [paneˈtũː]) is an Italian type of sweet bread and fruitcake, originally from Milan, usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Western, Southern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as in South America, Eritrea, Australia, the United ...

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.

As far as room temperature, it's important to let it warm up a bit before you get it in the oven. Yeast likes to activate in warmer temperatures, so if you bake it straight out of the fridge you could end up with a dense, flat loaf. So, just give it a few minutes to take the chill off, and you should be good to go!

- Uncovered container with dough you need to limit to max 4 hours in room temperature. It is possible to leave bread dough to rise overnight. This needs to be done in the refrigerator to prevent over-fermentation and doughs with an overnight rise will often have a stronger more yeasty flavour which some people prefer.

You'd be far better making your bread & then part baking or lightly baking it before freezing. You can then finish baking it from frozen for 10–12 minutes when you need it, this will give far better results. The only exception to this would be pizza dough.

Yes, risen dough can be frozen but some adjustments have to be made to get the best loaf possible. You will want to put your dough in the freezer either after the first rise, or if the bread has more than two rises then after the shaping. This is because frozen dough will need to rise/proof again before baking it.

Is it better to freeze or refrigerate bread dough? ›

You can freeze bread dough; however, timing and technique are both important to the end results. You must freeze yeast bread dough, such as sourdough bread dough, after the first rise and after you've shaped it into its final form. If the dough is for a loaf of bread, freeze the dough inside the loaf pan.

Prepare bread: Mix flour, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, water, dry yeast, orange zest, lime zest, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter; mix until dough is elastic and shiny, about 5 minutes. Form dough into a ball.

In order to prepare the Divine Eucharist, Orthodox Christians use the “prosphoro” (votive loaf of bread), while the Roman Catholic Church on the other hand, uses the “Ostia” (very small round wafers) that are offered together with Holy Communion to the faithful.

Ingredients for the topping:

½ cup of confectioner sugar. Dry fruit like figs candied citron, quince paste stripes, orange peels or cherries.

The History of Stollen Bread

Stollen or Christstollen is a tradition dating back to 14th century Germany. Germans baked stollen loaves at Christmas to honor princes and church dignitaries, and to sell at fairs and festivals for holiday celebrations.