Cherry Tea Ring Recipes

SWEDISH TEA RING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the sugar, oil, egg whites, salt and 1 cup flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a bowl coated with cooking spray, turning once to coat the top. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. , Combine the walnuts, cherries, brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Punch dough down; roll into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Brush with butter; sprinkle with nut mixture to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal. , Place seam side down on a 14-in. pizza pan coated with cooking spray; pinch ends together to form a ring. With scissors, cut from outside edge two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at scant 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes., Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool. , In a small bowl, combine confectioners' sugar and enough milk to achieve desired consistency; drizzle over tea ring.

SWEDISH TEA RING (COFFEE BREAD)

Steps:

• Heat the milk, add the butter and sugar, then the yeast and egg: Pour milk into a small saucepan and heat on medium heat until steamy (but not boiling). Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and sugar until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved. Pour into a mixing bowl. Mix in yeast mixture and the egg.
• Add the spices, then gradually add the flour: Mix in the salt and cardamom. Slowly add in 2 cups of the flour. After the first two cups, gradually add more flour until a soft dough starts to form into a ball and pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• Knead the dough: Turn out onto a floured surface and knead dough for 7 to 10 minutes until smooth, OR use a dough hook in a stand-up mixer and knead the dough for 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as needed to keep the dough from being too sticky. Note: the dough should remain soft, so take care not to add too much flour.
• Let the dough rise and double in size: Place the dough in an oiled bowl, covered with a clean tea-towel or with plastic wrap. Let rise for an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
• Make 2 simple braids, or form 1 filled wreath: At this point you can make a simple braided bread if you want (2 loaves), by punching the dough down, dividing the dough in half, and then dividing each half into three equal parts, rolling the dough pieces into ropes, braiding them, and tucking the ends under. Or you can get more fancy, which is what we've done here, with a filling, and forming the dough into a wreath shape. The following directions are for the wreath form.
• Divide and flatten the dough into 2 rectangles: Press the dough down to deflate it a bit. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Take one part (saving the other for wreath number 2) and use your fingers to spread it into a 8-inch by 16-inch rectangle on a lightly floured, clean, flat surface. If you are having difficulty getting the dough to keep its shape, just do what you can and let it sit for 5 minutes before trying again. Like pizza dough, the dough needs time to relax while you are forming it. Brush the dough with melted butter, leaving at least a half-inch border on the edges so the dough will stick together when rolled.
• Make the filling and fill the dough: Mix together the brown and white sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle the dough with half of mixture (saving the other half for the second batch of dough). Sprinkle on more fillings, as you like, such as raisins, slivered almonds, or almond paste. You could even sprinkle on some cream cheese for a creamier filling.
• Carefully roll the dough and form a ring: Carefully roll the dough up lengthwise, with the seam on the bottom. Carefully transfer to a greased baking sheet. Form a circle with the dough on the baking sheet, connecting the ends together to make a ring.
• Cut the dough and shape the wreath: Using scissors, cut most of the way through the dough, cutting on a slant. Work your way around the dough circle. After each cut, pull out the dough segment either to the right or to the left, alternating as you go around the circle. The dough circle will look like a wreath when you are done. Repeat the steps with the rest of the dough, to form a second wreath.
• Let the shaped dough rise: Cover the wreaths lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm area for a second rise. Let rise for about 40 minutes to an hour; the dough should again puff up in size.
• Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Brush the dough with egg wash and bake: Whisk together the egg yolks and cream. Use a pastry brush to brush over the dough. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. After the first 15 minutes of baking, if the top is getting well browned, tent with some aluminum foil.
• Cool, then drizzle with optional glaze: Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Meanwhile, whisk together the powdered sugar and water to create a final glaze (optional). Add more water if the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more powdered sugar if the glaze is too runny. Drizzle the glaze in a back and forth motion over the pastry.

VERY CHERRY CRESCENT RING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Reserve 3 tablespoons cherries for topping. For filling, beat cream cheese, sugar and extract until smooth. Stir in 3/4 cup pecans and remaining cherries., On a lightly floured surface, unroll crescent dough into one long rectangle; press perforations to seal. Fold dough lengthwise in half; roll into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Spread filling over top to within 1 in. of edges. Roll up tightly jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal., Transfer to a greased baking sheet, seam side down; shape into a ring, pinching ends to seal. Using kitchen scissors, start at outside edge and cut two-thirds of the way through the ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate sections slightly and twist to show filling., Bake until golden brown, 20-30 minutes. (Cover loosely with foil if it browns too quickly.) , Using two large spatulas, remove from pan to a wire rack. Mix confectioners' sugar, milk and extract; spoon over warm coffeecake. Top with reserved cherries and, if desired, additional pecans.

CHERRY TEA RING

Steps:

• For Bread:.
• In small saucepan, heat and stir milk and butter until warm and butter almost melts.
• Cool to lukewarm (105-115 degrees F).
• In large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast into 1/2 cup warm water.
• Stir in milk mixture, 3 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, and salt.
• Use wooden spoon to stir in as much of remaining flour as possible.
• Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.
• Knead in enough of remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (about 6-8 minutes total).
• Shape into ball and place into greased bowl, turning once in order to grease entire surface of dough.
• Cover and let rise in warm place until doubles in size about 1-1 1/2 hours.
• Punch dough down.
• Turn out onto lightly floured surface.
• Divide dough in half, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
• In medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to boiling, remove from heat.
• Add cherries and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Drain, squeezing out excess water of cherries. Set aside.
• In medium mixing bowl, mix 2/3 cup granulated sugar, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, and cinnamon.
• Cut 1/2 cup butter into mixture until crumbly and set aside.
• Roll half of dough into 15 x 9 rectangle.
• Sprinkle half of the cinnamon filling evenly over dough.
• Sprinkle with half of cherries.
• Roll up, jelly roll style, starting from long side.
• Seal seam.
• Grease two baking pans (cookie sheets).
• Place dough roll on one of prepared baking pans.
• Attach ends of dough to form a circle.
• Pinch to seal ends.
• Use sharp knife to cut slits at 1 inch intervals around ring.
• Cover, let dough rise again until double in size, about 30 minutes.
• Repeat with remaining dough, cinnamon mix, and cherries.
• Bake both rings in 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes or until tea rings sound hollow when you tap tops. (if necessary cover tops with foil for last 5-10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning.).
• Transfer to wire racks and cool completely.
• Drizzle with icing. . .
• For icing:.
• In small bowl, mix powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla, and almond extract.
• Stir in enough cream to make drizzling consistency.
• If desired, add red food color to icing.

SWEDISH TEA RING

Steps:

• In a bread machine, put milk, egg, butter, sugar, salt, bread flour, and yeast in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle and press Start. When dough is mixed, transfer to a greased bowl; cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Grease 2 baking sheets or line them with parchment paper; set aside.
• Divide dough in half. Roll each piece out into rectangles about 12x16 inches. Spread each dough rectangle with 1 tablespoon softened butter. In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 3/4 cup light brown sugar, and 1/2 cup raisins.
• Sprinkle cinnamon mixture onto buttered dough. Roll them up jelly-roll fashion, along long side. Pinch edges to seal. Stretch and twist into rings, pinching ends to seal. Place them seam-side down onto prepared baking sheets. Using clean scissors, cut 2/3 way of the way through the loaf at about 1-inch intervals. Spread each cut slightly. you wish to
• [At this point, the dough can be refrigerated: cover dough with greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, let pastries come to room temperature for about half an hour before baking as directed in step 7.]
• Alternately, cover each ring with a clean towel or greased plastic wrap and let loaves rise until double, about 40 minutes.
• Arrange two oven racks so that both baking sheets will fit. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake for 10 minutes in preheated; rotate baking sheets. Bake until rings are light brown and the filling is oozing and bubbling, about 10 minutes more.
• In a small mixing bowl, combine confectioners sugar, almond extract, and milk until icing is desired consistency. Drizzle icing over warm pastries.

APRICOT TEA RINGS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and nutmeg. In a small saucepan, heat the milk, water and butter to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat until moistened. Beat in eggs until smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight., In a large saucepan, combine apricots and water. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes or until the water is absorbed and apricots are tender. Remove from the heat; stir in the brown sugar, juice and nuts. Cool., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Roll one portion into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Spread half of filling over rectangle to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal., Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet; pinch ends together to form a ring. Repeat for second ring. With scissors, cut each from outside edge two-thirds toward center of ring at 1 in. intervals. Separate strips slightly: twist so filling shows, slightly overlapping with previous piece. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Bake at 375° for 25-28 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. , In a small bowl, combine confectioner's sugar and enough milk to achieve desired consistency; drizzle over warm tea rings.

CHRISTMAS TEA RING

Steps:

• Roll bread dough into a rectangle 8 inches wide and 15 inches long. Spread butter over the bread, leaving about 1/2 inch of a long edge unbuttered. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and flour in a bowl and sprinkle the mixture over the buttered part of the dough.
• Starting with the long edge opposite the unbuttered edge, tightly roll the dough over the filling; seal the roll along the unbuttered edge to make a log.
• Lightly grease a 12-inch round cake pan or baking dish; place dough into the pan and form a ring, pinching the two ends together to seal. Use kitchen scissors or sharp knife to make cuts 3/4 inch deep into the outside of the ring. Twist the cut sections of dough slightly to reveal filling.
• Cover the tea ring with a cloth, place into a warm area, and let rise until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake tea ring in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 25 to 30 minutes. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil after 15 minutes if tea ring starts to brown too quickly. Let tea ring cool in pan for about 10 minutes before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.
• Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a bowl to make a smooth frosting. Spread top of the tea ring with frosting.

SWEDISH TEA RING

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast in warm water until dissolved.
• Add next three ingredients and beat well.
• Add egg and lard then stir.
• Mix in 3 1/2 cups of flour.
• Gradually add the rest of the flour until dough is easy to handle.
• Place in large bowl.
• Grease top of dough and cover.
• Refrigerate until double.
• (May be left overnight and used early the next morning).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Punch down dough.
• Roll out 1/2 the dough into an oblong and butter well.
• Sprinkle w/ sugar and spice mix.
• Add fruit layer if you like.
• Roll up as a jellyroll.
• Place on large baking sheet and join ends together to form circle of dough.
• Using kitchen scissors, snip 2/3 way thru in 1 inch intervals.
• Turn sections until one sections lays on top of the next completing the ring.
• Let raise until double.
• Bake until 30 minutes or so until done.
• Using spatulas remove ring to seving plate while it is still very warm.
• Pour confectioners sugar glaze over warm ring and decorate w/ nuts, cherries etc.

CINNAMON ROLL TEA RING WITH CHERRY FROSTING

Steps:

• Dough:.
• Mix warm water and yeast, add sugar and salt.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of flour, mix, then add melted shortening and egg; mix. Add the rest of the flour, 1 1/2 cups; if dough is really thin, add more flour.
• Grease a bowl, put dough in, turn to coat, and refrigerate at least a couple hours or overnight. (The dough will rise in the fridge.).
• Roll the dough our on a floured surface into a rectangle, not too thin and not to thick, maybe 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Spread 1/4 cup melted butter over dough, add more if necessary/desired.
• Mix cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle evenly over the butter. Sprinkle chopped nuts over that. Roll up tightly into a log.
• Place onto a greased cookie sheet and shape into a ring (bring ends together) and seal ends together with some melted butter.
• Using a pair of scissors, cut a small slit (not all the way through) every one inch. Bake at 350°F until top is slightly brown. (About 25-30 minutes).
• Meanwhile make the icing: Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough milk for a glaze thin enough to spoon over the ring and fall down the sides. Add one tablespoon maraschino cherry juice for color and flavor. Spoon onto cooled tea ring and decorate the top with halved maraschino cherries.
• *To serve, guests can simply pull off/ cut the wedges created by cutting the slits. Great for an impress your guest brunch!