Saturday, December 15, 2012

Danish Wheat-Walnut Wreath Bread



This bread brought back memories.  Memories of a nut bread that my mother used to buy from a Danish bakery in my home town. Memories of Danish relatives and delicious baked goods. Perfect memories for this time of year.


I found this wonderful whole wheat and walnut bread in The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas. It gave me the opportunity to try Red Star's Platinum yeast which I won from Barbara at Barbara Bakes (along with a wonderful apron and bread board).  Thank you, Barbara, and Red Star Yeast - the bread turned out beautifully!




The recommendation was to serve the bread with cheese or flavored butters.  It was perfect served with cheese - especially a Wisconsin-made Lake Country cheese from Costco which has a delicious sharp and nutty flavor.


Danish Wheat-Walnut Wreath Bread

Adapted from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book
Printable Recipe

Makes 1 Wreath

My Notes: I used 5 cups of bread flour, buttermilk rather than yogurt, and 1 cup of chopped walnuts. My loaf took closer to 45 minutes to bake. I used a bread machine to make the dough through the first rise stage.  You could also use a stand mixer with a dough hook. 

1 cup boiling water
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water, 105 to 115F
1 tablespoon dark corn syrup
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup unflavored yogurt or buttermilk
4-1/2 to 5-1/2 cups bread or unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

In a small bowl, pour the boiling water over the whole wheat flour, stir to mix and let stand until room temperature.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Add the corn syrup, salt and yogurt (or buttermilk)

Add the cooled wheat flour mixture and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. (The whole wheat flour mixture may be lumpy.) Stir in bread or all-purpose flour 1 cup at a time, beating after each addition until the dough is stiff. Let stand 15 minutes.

Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Clean the bowl, oil it, and add the dough to the bowl, turning to grease all sides. Let rise for about 1 hour or until doubled. Knead the walnuts into the dough.

Lightly oil a work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Divide into 2 parts. Roll each part into a long strand, 25 to 30 inches long. Twist together to make a 2-strand rope.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it. Place rope onto the baking sheet to form a wreath; pinch ends together. Let rise, covered with plastic wrap or a towel, until puffy but not quite doubled, about 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F. Bake wreath for 30 to 35 minutes or until the loaf is lightly browned. Cool on a rack.

51 comments:

  1. Could this be made with AP flour? Also, after pouring the boiling water over the flour does it get stirred in? I won't see your answer unless you can send it to scrout1944@msn.com

    Many thanks.

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  2. Love how you've formed this bread into a wreath. Very festive and perfect for the holidays. I know I would enjoy it with a good butter. When we were in the islands, we got a good Irish butter, but I also believe there was a Danish brand too. High in butter fat and delish! Almost like cheese in flavor. Because of the duty imposed, it was less expensive than the American brands and far superior.
    Sam

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  3. That looks wonderful Susan..I have your delicious fig walnuts in a pretty dish..on the counter..waiting for friends.,
    So many recipes we have shared through the years..
    Thank you.

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  4. This is a tasty and pretty bread, Susan. And your food styling is gorgeous, with the sun and shadow, wow. xo

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  5. I really don't know a lot about Danish bread, but I know this looks incredible. I love how you've made this into a wreath and that butter on top makes me want to reach out and grab a slice.

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  6. Yum! A couple slices with a nice cheese sounds good about now. :D Thanks for sharing.

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  7. I love this bread look absoutely beautiful!!

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  8. What a beautiful bread- Perfect for a Christmas brunch, or anytime really! Your photos are gorgeous as well. :)

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  9. Gorgeous and I bet it tastes wonderful with that cheese!

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  10. We visited a Danish town over Thanksgiving. They had so many bakeries. This bread looks delicious.

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  11. The bread looks luscious, and I love the light in your photos!

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  12. What a tasty bread Susan,perfect for Christmas ! You lovely photos are stunning as well, have a good day, a warm hug from Italy....

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  13. Everything that comes out of your kitchen is beautiful, delicious and stylish! Love this bread; reminded me of my first time tasting Danish pastries in London when I was 14. I love them! Did not know you had Danish ancestry, I have first cousins who are Danish (aunt married a Dane), blablabla. The bread and cheese on top could be the best appetizer for Christmas dinner!

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    1. Thank you, Joumana. Yes, many Danish people immigrated to Wisconsin around the turn of the century - my grandparents being some of them. Since my father was the baby of a very large family, he was born in the United States.

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  14. Susan~ Your wreath bread is beautiful! I love the sunlight streaming in and highlighting your bread and making a shadow dance across your cheese with your knife!

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  15. You do have a talent; looks so nice and Christmasy; it's good be good!
    Rita

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  16. This is a beautiful wreath of bread! Having it with the cheese looks very good!

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  17. The Christmas holidays seem a little sadder for everyone due to the tragedy. Hug our own kids. Congratualtion on winning the breadboard nd yeast and making something yummy!!!

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    1. It certainly does, Val. I am to the verge of tears every day thinking of those parents and families.

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  18. Obviously I have been missing out on a lot of fellowship this season amongst our food blogging community. I am right out of the loop re the pinterest round up - and know that this has once again been an unusual year for us. Hope this isn't the norm. When I was little, I thought growing up meant I could control how I spend my time. Ha ha!
    Anyway, love the bread and the Christmas Spirit in your post, Susan! Everything you do is gorgeous and I always love seeing a new post pop up in my mail.
    :)
    V

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  19. Great win, Susan! And a super recipe to post from your new cookbook. It looks marvelous...flavored butters would be perfect. Wouldn't have occurred to me. I love the wreath form for the holidays.

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  20. Such a beautiful wreath! Indeed a perfect holiday treat. I can easily imagine how delicious this would be with some peanut butter ;-)) I hardly eat bread with butter, no idea why...I love them plain and my husband loves it with peanut butter.

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  21. This wreath bread looks incredible my friend absolutely love it :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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  22. gorgeous bread, perfectly made, have a merry christmas hugs

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  23. The wreath bread is simply beautiful - I can only imagine how wonderful it tastes!
    Mary x

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  24. What a gorgeous loaf! This would be perfect for Christmas breakfast!

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  25. Beautiful loaf. And it tastes just as delicious as it looks, I'm sure. Such a pretty shot, perfect for the Pinterest project!
    Merry Christmas, Susan :)

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  26. Susan, what a beautiful wreath...and I love the idea that is edible...sure a perfect way to celebrate the Holidays.
    Have a great week!

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  27. I have 2 books from Beatrice Ojakangas; one is for Bread machine bread and the other is Convention oven.She is good. Your wreath is really beautiful and I am sure tasty good I can almost taste it.
    Rita

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    1. I will have to look into her bread machine book, Rita! Thanks for mentioning it :)

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  28. What a fun recipe and so festive too. I think it would really be good with cheese, yum!

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  29. Susan, I love your Danish wreath bread-I have those same early memories of my Danish relatives gathering in our home- always with a pink box from the bakery, usually a coffee cake shared with a pot of coffee;-) Maybe that's where my sweet tooth began...Have a wonderful happy holiday with your loved ones;-)

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    1. It sounds like we share more than a love of cooking, Patty :)

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  30. Sweet Susan, Absolutely Gorgeous! The texture of that Danish bread looks so BEAUTIFUL! I can imagine how delightful this would be with some butter...Mmmmm - And I'm loving those last two pictures :)

    BUG HUGS <3

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  31. Hi Susan, your danish bread look awesome, so perfectly baked. The texture look sooo good. Nice to go with a cup of hot coffee. :)

    Have a nice week ahead,regards.

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  32. Merry Christmas Susan,

    Your beautiful bread with nuts and cheese is calling my name. I miss seeing all of your posts, but try to catch up when I visit. Have a wonderful holiday with your family.

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  33. I have one of Beatrice's cookbooks too and it is awesome. This bread looks delicious especially with that tasty pat of butter.

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  34. I love fresh bread. This looks phenomenal!

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  35. Your bread sounds fabulous. I love your composed picture too. Definitely a wonderful Christmas bread. Reminds me of breads my mom would make at Christmas. There is nothing like a warm Christmas bread coming out of the oven.

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  36. Isn't it wonderful how Christmas time, food, decorations evoke the dearest of memories? I love it. This is a lovely bread and with that slab of butter on it..I'm expecting it to melt any minute..delicious.
    Ronelle

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  37. What wonderful memories! The bread looks beautiful.
    Mike is just starting to prepare his rolls of dough for his rugelach. Not Christmas without it!

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  38. How festive! I like that it's whole wheat with the accent of walnuts. Great food styling - your light is perfect.

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  39. This is such a beautiful bread wreath Susan and the walnuts I am sure make this bread something very special! We heard on the news about this tremendous tragedy in Connecticut. As a mother I cannot begin to imagine the terrible loss and the big emptyness these families face. I hope one day they will be able to find some peace in their hearts!

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  40. Recipe sounds great...lived in Denmark for 5 years and brought back memories...do you have recipe for kransekage

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    1. Sorry I was late replying to you but thank you very much! I don't have a recipe for krasekage but found this one online with a very nice tutorial: https://sweetsoursavory.com/blog/2013/9/14/kansekage

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