Cran Apple Tea Ring Recipes

CRANBERRY-ORANGE TEA RING

Steps:

• Combine warm water and yeast in a large bowl; stir to dissolve. Add warm milk, egg, marmalade, and butter. Stir to combine.
• Mix flour, oats, and salt together in a separate bowl. Add to yeast mixture and stir until moistened. Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 6 to 8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat both sides. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine cranberries, brown sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until cranberries begin to soften, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in walnuts, butter, and lemon juice. Let cool.
• Punch dough down. Roll dough into a 10x20-inch rectangle on a floured surface.
• Whisk egg white and water together. Brush lightly over the dough. Spread cranberry filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Roll up tightly, starting from a long edge. Seal edges and cut off any tapered sides with no filling.
• Transfer roll to a large square baking sheet. Join ends together to form a ring. Use sharp kitchen shears to make cuts at 1-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Twist each slice gently to expose the swirled filling. Gently shape dough into a perfect ring. Cover and let rise until doubled, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool on the baking sheet for 20 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Let cool completely.
• Stir powdered sugar and orange juice concentrate together in a small bowl. Add enough water to reach a glaze-like consistency. Drizzle glaze over tea ring. Allow glaze to set before slicing.

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.

CRANBERRY APPLE TEA

Steps:

• Heat first four ingredients in saucepan to boiling.
• Remove from heat and add tea bags.
• Cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Remove tea bags and cinnamon stick.
• Pour into mugs and serve hot with apple slices and cinnamon sticks, if desired.

CRANBERRY APPLE TEA

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the cranberries, ginger, cloves, cinnamon and water.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat.
• Simmer 5 minutes or until cranberries pop.
• Remove from heat and stir in the honey.
• Add the tea bags and let stand 5 minutes, stirring once.
• Strain through 2 layers of wet cheesecloth.
• Return to saucepan and add the apple juice.
• Reheat and serve hot.
• (keep the extra tea in the fridge and microwave it by the cup if you wish).