Category: holiday breads

Yeasted Blueberry Coffee Cake

BreadIn5 24 Comments

Yeasted Blueberry Coffee Cake | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

I’ve been on a jam making kick this week. I read about a really easy recipe in Jennifer Farley’s book, The Gourmet Kitchen and had to give it a go. I am now on my third batch, in as many days. Skillet jam is a super simple way to make fruit jam without the pectin and there’s no need to figure out the whole canning process, since this jam will disappear in a snap. Honestly, I just eat it out of the jar with a spoon. Today I made just enough blueberry jam to fill this brioche based coffee cake. Depending on the season and where you live, you can use fresh or frozen berries for the jam. I used frozen wild blueberries and they have a lovely tartness. This layered coffee cake is a perfect treat to serve at brunch… Read More

Mother’s Day Recipe Round Up

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‘The clocks were striking midnight and the rooms were very still as a figure glided quietly from bed to bed, smoothing a coverlid here, settling a pillow there, and pausing to look long and tenderly at each unconscious face, to kiss each with lips that mutely blessed, and to pray the fervent prayers which only mothers utter.’ -Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

Over the years, we’ve done quite a few posts that are Mother’s Day/Brunch related. Here’s a round up of some of our favorite recipes, and also some from around the web. If you bake anything this weekend from our site or from our books, take a photo and then tag it with #breadin5 so we can see what you’re making!

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Tsoureki: Easter Bread from Greece

jeff 6 Comments

Easter is right around the corner, and while it is celebrated in different ways by many, one common thread is to involve colorful eggs, either in hunts or baskets or bread.

Tsoureki is the traditional bread of Easter in Greece and many other Christian countries. The dough is enriched and then twisted around brightly dyed eggs. The bread is often braided with three strands to represent the holy trinity, formed into a circle as a reference to life and the eggs are dyed red as a symbol of Christ’s blood. The bread is sweet, flavored with orange zest and a traditional Middle Eastern spice called Mahlepi, which is made from ground cherry pits (the spice can be found in Middle Eastern or Greek markets). If you don’t have Mahlepi, you can make the dough with ground Anise seed or even Cardamom. We’ve made them individual-sized here, with light pink eggs, but you could make them any color you would like (for a large loaf, we have a recipe here).

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Chocolate and Orange Confit Brioche

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chocolate orange bread

With less than a week away from the most wonderful time of the year (sing that to yourself in a Bing Crosby voice), I find myself frantically baking for this Saturday and Sunday. I love passing out goodies to the neighbors each year, and while we have stacks of cookies and bars, somehow a loaf of bread is most ideal. This loaf is extra special – with both a tender crumb and studded with chocolate and orange pieces, it is breakfast and dessert, a sweet indulgence to bring tidings of comfort and joy. This recipe makes two loaves, so you can make one for snacking and one for giving. Happy Holidays!

chocolate orange bread

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Brioche Cake with Sugared Cranberries and Cream Cheese Frosting

jeff 6 Comments

cranberry cake4A

With Christmas just around the corner, I’ve found I still don’t have the perfect morning-of breakfast. I have a secret wish to have that one amazing sweet bread my kids will make in their homes one day, for their own children on holiday mornings. After playing around with sugared cranberries and cream cheese frosting, I’ve decided they might be the keys to what I am searching for. The tart cranberries and tangy cheese pair well together, especially when perched on a sugar-swirled brioche cake. We all oohed and aahed on first bite.

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Thanksgiving Recipe Round Up

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Pumpkin Brioche | Bread in 5
‘Over the river and through the wood,
To grandfather’s house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh
Through the white and drifted snow.

Over the river and through the wood –
Now grandmother’s cap I spy!
Hurrah for the fun!
Is the pudding done?
Hurrah for the pumpkin-pie!’ (Thanksgiving Day, by Lydia Maria Child)
(Of course, at our house, we would be cheering for pumpkin brioche instead of pie.)

Over the years, we’ve done quite a few posts that are Thanksgiving related. Here’s a round up of all our recipes, and also some from around the web. If you bake anything this Thanksgiving from our site or from our books, take a photo and then tag it with #breadin5 so we can see what you’re making! Here’s one more, a recipe for home-made stuffing from your own bread (click to view)! Read More

Baked French Toast

jeff 15 Comments

Baked French Toast | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

My mom informed me today that I was in charge of planning Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. Now that I have two children of my own, I thought that this duty could be passed along to someone else, perhaps someone planning my Mother’s Day. Apparently it doesn’t work like that. She vaguely mentioned something about being Queen Mother and I’ll just have to wait my turn, so Mother’s Day breakfast is on. Good thing I like her a lot, and also like baking bread.

I’ve found brunch to be ideal for that Sunday morning celebration, but eating out is usually a busy affair in these parts. Baked French toast is now my answer to the “what are we going to serve?” question. It is put together in the evening, where the milk and eggs soak into the layers of challah overnight. The next morning it is baked, served warm, and gone within minutes. It also makes me look like I worked much harder than I did.

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Cinnamon Brioche Wreath and a book giveaway

BreadIn5 155 Comments

Cinnamon Brioche Wreath | Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

I’ve written before about being enamored with braided breads, and after making twisted loaves I thought it was time to add a cinnamon brioche wreath into the mix. Seeing braided wreaths of bread all over Pinterest makes me immediately think of the Holidays, that holly jolly time of year when everyone turns a blind eye at eating too many delicious sweets. I have a special breakfast for Thanksgiving and my family always makes these cinnamon rolls for New Years Day, but Christmas Eve needed something special. This wreath is the perfect treat. It looks harder than it is: just a few simple twists sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon make for a beautiful presentation. Click continue viewing below for more. But also: anyone posting a comment to this post will automatically be entered into a drawing–we’re giving away a copy of our any one of our U.S. books to five lucky winners (either The New Artisan Bread in 5, Healthy Bread in 5, Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in 5, or Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in 5). Contest closes and winners will be selected on December 19. Usual rules apply, (will only ship to a U.S. address, only one entry allowed, and must respond within 24 hours if you’re a winner). Contest is closed; winners have been chosen and notified in e-mail as of 12/19/14.

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Caramel Apple Brioche Cake–for Thanksgiving Breakfast

jeff 21 Comments

Caramel Apple Brioche Cake for Thanksgiving Breakfast | Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

There are so many good things about Thanksgiving dinner. There’s the table piled with comfort food, the house full of family and friends, the first evening of holiday music playing, and a day to consider all the good things the year has brought.

But there’s something to be said about Thanksgiving breakfast. It’s always overlooked, and often skipped while one focuses on cleaning house, peeling potatoes, and setting the table. But what better way to start a day of feasting, really. This cake is one big roll, stuffed with apples and topped with caramel sauce and toasted pecans. It’s perfect to have on hand for overnight guests and bribing kids to pitch in Thursday morning. It also just may remind one to pause with gratitude; this treat is still bread underneath. Breaking it with a loved one first thing in the morning is a sweet sort of communion, a unique way to stop and give thanks.

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