Berry wreath

Take advantage of the abundance of fresh berries over summer to bake this delicious wreath. You can substitute the berries for strawberries or blackberries or try your own berry combination. This wreath will make a beautiful centrepiece for your table on Christmas morning or a lovely edible gift.

Credit: Brett Stevens

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  45 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Dough

• ¾ cup milk, warmed
• 2 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp castor sugar
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten 
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted 
• 2½ cups plain flour 
• 1 tsp salt
• olive oil, for greasing the bowl 

Filling

• 60 g unsalted butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup castor sugar 
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ cup pecans, chopped
• 125 g fresh raspberries, half crushed, half whole
• 125 g fresh blueberries
• 1 large egg, beaten, for egg wash 

Resting time: 1 hour

Chilling/freezing time: 1 hour

Instructions

To make the dough, in a large bowl, combine, milk, yeast, sugar, egg and melted butter. Whisk together until combined. Allow to rest for 5 minutes or until foamy bubbles develop.

Gradually add flour and salt. Mix together to form a rough dough, approximately  2 minutes.

Place dough on a lightly floured counter and knead by hand for 5–10 minutes. Dough should be soft and smooth after kneading. If it is still sticky add more flour. Shape dough into a ball.

Lightly grease a medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in a bowl and cover.  Allow to rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

To make filling, beat together the butter, cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 200˚C/400˚F. Grease 25cm spring form pan.

When dough has doubled in size, place it on a lightly floured surface and gently knead. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to a rectangle of about 25cm x 45cm. lift dough onto a baking tray, cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate for 1 hour or until firmed slightly. (This will assist with shaping the twist).

Spread the butter filling over the top, spreading evenly, leaving a 5cm border around the edges.

Sprinkle pecans, blueberries and crushed raspberries berries over cinnamon filling. Start by rolling the longest side of the dough, and sealing one end. Using a sharp knife, cut the log in half lengthwise leaving 3cm of the edge uncut. Start braiding the two pieces by lifting the left strand over the right strand. Repeat until you reach the bottom of the dough. Press ends together to create a circle. Fill in gaps with whole raspberries.

Transfer the dough ring to the prepared pan. Brush the wreath with the beaten egg.

Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 180˚C/350˚F; Bake for further 35 minutes until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped.  Transfer to wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar to serve. 

Photography by Brett Stevens. Styling by Marcus Hay. Food preparation by Angela Devlin. 

Looking for more gift ideas? See our edible gift collection here. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.