Spiced Chrysanthemum Bread #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. 

This month the Bread Bakers are making Tear & Share Holiday Breads, a theme chosen by Felice from All That's Left Are The Crumbs.

And don’t forget to check out all the amazing breads baked by our talented bakers ~

• Baklava Danish Tear and Share Treat Bread by A Messy Kitchen
• Buttery Soft Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheesy Chicken Chutney Pull Apart Skillet Rolls by Sneha's Recipe
• Cheesy Tomato Tapenade Party Bread by Food Lust People Love
• Cranberry Cinnamon Star Bread by Making Miracles
• Fruit Mince Braided Star Bread by All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Gingerbread Spice Christmas Tree Bread by Passion Kneaded
• Herb and Cheese Star Bread by Ambrosia
• Koledna Pitka - Bulgarian Christmas Eve Bread by Magical Ingredients
• Pumpkin Spice Pull-Apart Loaf by Palatable Pastime
• Spiced Chrysanthemum Bread by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Turkey, Cranberry and Cheese Pull Apart Bread by A Day in the Life on the Farm

A 'Tear & Share', as it is known in the United Kingdom, is perfect for a holiday get-together. Since we are still sheltered-in-place here on California's central coast, there will be no holiday get-togethers. I guess we'll be eating this all by ourselves.

Spiced Chrysanthemum Bread

I started making this when I was researching recipes for our #EattheWorld tabletop adventure to Georgia - country, not state - I came across a photo for Chrysanthemum Bread. Sources were conflicted about whether this hailed from Russia or Georgia. But, in any case, it was a savory recipe.

While I almost always lean savory, I wanted to give it a shot as a sweet bread - in place of a pan of cinnamon rolls. I will say that Chrysanthemum Bread seems to be more of a technique than an actual recipe anyway. So, I used an easy yeast dough and gave it a try. And, when I'm really serious about baking bread, I use a scale. Feel free to convert to volume if you wish.

Ingredients

Dough

• 18 g dried/active dry yeast 
• 250 ml whole milk, warmed to steaming but not boiling
• 100 g butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 40 g organic granulated sugar
• 450 g flour + more for kneading
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (I used a Danish flake salt, but use whatever you have)
• 1 egg, whole
• 1 egg, beaten

Filling

• 1-1/2 cups pecans
• 3/4 cups organic dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground vanilla bean powder
• splash of pure vanilla extract
• 4 Tablespoons butter, room temperature

Procedure

Dough
Pour warm milk into a large mixing bowl, stir in sugar, and sprinkle yeast over the top. Let bloom for 10 to 15 minutes. It should be foamy and frothy. Add in the butter and whole egg. Whisk to combine.

Add in the flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. Knead until a scraggy dough forms. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 30 to 40 minutes. It should be doubled in size.

Filling
To make the filling, finely chop your pecans; I just gave them a whirl in the food processor. Add in the sugar, spices, vanilla, and butter. Pulse till it comes together in a thick paste. Set aside.

Butter a 9" round dish and set aside. Roll dough out to less than 1/4" and cut circles; I used a biscuit cutter that was 2-1/2" diameter.

Place filling on one half and fold over to make a half-circle. Fold that into half again and pinch to make a petal.

Arrange the petals around the edge of your baking dish.

Repeat until the dish is full of pastry petals.

Brush the finished bread with beaten egg and let stand for a second rise for about 20 to 25 minutes. During the last part of the rise, preheat the oven to 395 degrees F. 

Place the bread in the oven. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing the bread to a serving platter.

This was a hit with my trio. I'm not much of a bread person anymore, but I did enjoy looking at this! It's so pretty. I think I will give it a try with a garlic-cheese filling. Soon.

That's a wrap for the December #BreadBakers. We'll be back in January to kick off  2021 with animal-shaped breads. Stacy of Food Lust People Love is hosting. Stay tuned...