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Elaine's Decorative Harvest Sheaf Loaf

4 star rating
 

Submitted by: romraidr

 

Photo by: romraidr

This elaborate loaf of white bread is fashioned to resemble a sheaf of wheat, tied with a braid of dough.
 

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg bakers yeast
  • 5 tbsp (1/3 cup) lukewarm milk
  • 8 cups unbleached white flour
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 2 2/3 cups water
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • Egg Wash:
  • 2 whole eggs, beaten

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Method

Mix yeast with milk. Assemble and combine flour and salt. Make a well in the center of bowl; add yeast mixture, egg and water. Mix well until dough starts to come away from sides of bowl. Knead to the smooth, or blistered stage, about 15 minutes, then form into a ball. Place a little olive oil in bowl and place the ball of dough into bowl. Coat with olive oil and place in warm area to rise, about 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. Form into a loaf and cut dough in half. Reserve one half under a towel. Create a mushroom shape for base. Pinch in below center to make shape more obvious then brush with plain water. Coat with egg wash to prevent drying. Taking some reserved dough, roll into long strips and cut into small pieces. Roll each with hands to form an oblong shape, making one end a bit pointed. Using scissors, cut a few notches in each piece to resemble wheat. There will be over one hundred of these cuts. Repeat for all sheaf pieces. Assemble from top of loaf, then interlap. Keep adding pieces until the sheaf is full. Brush every so often as pieces are added. This helps them adhere to the base and prevents drying out. For bottom portion, roll strips of dough to resemble sheaf stems and place on base. Make a braid of dough to place on sheaf to resemble being tied. Pinch in ends to define the shape as a tied sheaf of wheat. Cover entire loaf liberally with egg wash and allow to rise until doubled. Bake at 400 degrees for the first 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees, and continue baking another 30-35 minutes, or until light golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on baking sheet.

 

Notes: When Fall arrives, we who appreciate growing our own veggies, love to celebrate the harvest. While we all will miss the growing season, we can reflect so fondly on what has grown successfully, and what has successfully made it to our dinner tables. This bread I saw a photo of in an old, old book, and decided to try to come up with a decorative loaf like it. So I developed this recipe and the results were wonderful.

 

Number of Servings: 12

 

Submitted by: romraidr ()

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