A Russian braided cinnamon wreath that my Grandmother used to bake for us…
This is one of these beautiful breads that I really enjoy baking and eating! It is so good to have a piece of this beautiful bread with a warm cup of tea or coffee in the morning…. Or in the evening, or anytime of the day! Cinnamon is one of my all time favorite ingredients, it just makes everything taste 100x better 😀
Oh and by the way you really need to try these Nutella Cinnamon Rolls, try them, you won’t regret it!
What I love about this bread is that it really is fun to make, and the result is always beautiful! Shaping the braided wreath is quite easy, I have posted a few pictures below just to show you how is it done, when you bake yours please send me a picture I would love to see! 😉
Start by flattening the dough ball out and rolling it into a rectangle. Brush with softened (room temperature) butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll into a pinwheel from the longer side of the rectangle and then using a sharp knife cut into 2 equal halves.
Slowly turn the 2 halves facing outwards so you can see the layers inside.
Then place the two halves crossing each other to create X shape. Pick up the 2 ends of the bottom and cross again. Pinch the ends together and repeat.
Place in your pan in a wreath shape. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in pan for 30 minutes. Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden (as per instructions below). Finally, let it cool on the wire rack and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon on top. Cut into slices and Enjoy!
This recipe is originally Russian, my Grandmother used to bake it for us in Moscow whenever we visited, it made the whole house smell like Christmas. She would cut it into cake-like slices and serve it with unsweetened tea. Ahh how I miss these days!
Ingredients
- For the dough:
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
- 2 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup oil
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 1 1/4 cup warm water
- For the filling:
- 1 stick butter softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 tsp powdered cinnamon
Instructions
- Grease your 10 inch spring pan.
- Mix all ingredients and knead the dough until it's elastic, if you need to then add a little bit of water or flour to reach the correct consistency. Coat the dough ball with oil and cover with a damp cloth, let it rise and double in size (takes about an hour).
- After that the dough has doubled, flour the work surface and roll out the dough as thin as you can shaping it into a rectangle. Brush with softened butter and sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon. Roll the dough into a pinwheel (from the longer side of the rectangle). Using a sharp knife cut it along its length into 2 equal halves. Slowly turn the 2 halves facing outwards so you can see the layers inside. Then place them crossing each other to create X shape. Pick up the 2 ends of the bottom and cross again. Pinch the ends together and repeat.
- Place in your pan in a wreath shape. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon on top.
- Bake wreath at 200c for 10 minutes and then lower to 180c and bake for another 30 or 40 minutes until golden. Let it cool then sprinkle with some powdered sugar. Cut a slice and enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.
Addy E
This was outstanding… seriously I almost cried when I tasted it. And the whole house smells so amazing! It’s worth the effort!
CINDY W PULLYARD
I have made this with wonderful results and cheers of “more more” from family and friends. You can do savory versions by replacing cinnamon sugar with sunripened tomato sauce or pesto garlic too. Yum yum!
Margaret Gallagher
Looks amaxing – not nearly as hard as i thought it might be to make
Thumbs up ftom me
Kirsteen Mackay
Wow! This looks and sounds amazing. I might try it in the Christmas holidays.