Breaking Bread

Celebration breads from savory to sweet bring most every culture together

During holidays when you gather with family and friends, there’s only one thing that’s more guaranteed than having to scout out potential post-meal nap spots, and that’s having an abundance of food. And no matter which holidays you celebrate, there is often bread on the table. From fancier options such as braided challah to the utility players that are dinner rolls, bread has the ability to tie the entire meal together.

With the ubiquity of bread, it’s not a surprise that every culture has its great bread traditions. In their new book, “Holiday and Celebration Bread in 5 Minutes a Day: Sweet and Decadent Baking for Every Occasion,” Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg share approachable baking methods to create savory and sweet breads for every occasion. Here are recipes from their book to try out at your next spring holiday gathering or anytime you want to enjoy home-baked treats. —Kyle Smelter

Hot Cross Buns

MAKES 27 BUNS (3 BATCHES OF 9 BUNS EACH)

These crowd-pleasing buns hail from the British Isles, where they are eaten on Good Friday. Even before the introduction of Christianity to England, Saxons made buns marked with a cross to celebrate the goddess Eostre, the namesake of this holiday, a tradition which was later incorporated into the celebration of the Resurrection. Many legends surround hot cross buns. For example, some believe that hot cross buns baked for Easter will never go bad and can be kept as a good luck charm. Some chefs even claim that keeping a leftover bun hanging in the kitchen prevents breads from getting burnt. We think an oven timer works better for that, but we do know that this recipe will satisfy your Easter sweet tooth every year.

1½ cups lukewarm water (100°F or below)

1 tablespoon granulated yeast

1 tablespoon kosher salt

8 large eggs, lightly beaten

½ cup honey

1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, plus butter for greasing the pan

7½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground allspice

2 teaspoons orange zest, grated

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1½ cups currants or raisins

egg wash (1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water), for brushing buns

Icing

4 ounces cream cheese

2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup confectioners’ sugar

¼ cup maple syrup

1. Mix the water, yeast, salt, eggs, honey and melted butter in a 6-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2. Mix in the flour, spices, zest, vanilla extract and raisins without kneading, using a spoon or a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle). If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. The dough will be loose but will firm up when chilled; don’t try to work with it before chilling. Cover (not airtight), and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours, then refrigerate.

3. The dough can be used as soon as it’s thoroughly chilled, at least 3 hours. Refrigerate the container and use over the next 5 days.

4. On baking day, dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece. Divide the dough into 9 equal pieces and quickly shape into balls. Place 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and rest at room temperature for about 45 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven.

6. Brush the tops with egg wash and place the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until richly browned.

7. To make the icing, mix the cream cheese, butter, confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup in a small bowl.

8. Allow to cool completely. Pipe the icing in a cross over the top of each bun. There will be extra icing for spreading on the buns.

Kolache

MAKES 8 (3-INCH) PASTRIES

When Czech immigrants came to the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they brought the kolache, a buttery roll filled with fruit or poppy seeds. Once the dessert of simple peasants, kolache came to be served at occasions ranging from church fundraisers to weddings. Even today, Czech-American communities across the Great Plains, including New Prague in our own home state of Minnesota, celebrate their heritage with annual kolache festivals. The world’s largest known kolache, weighing in at 2,605 pounds, was made in Prague, Nebraska, but your family will be just as impressed by these bite-sized versions.

1½ pounds (small cantaloupe–size portion) Amish-Style Milk Bread dough (see recipe right)

all-purpose flour, for dusting

egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water), for brushing the loaf

1 cup filling (such as almond cream, applesauce or prune filling)

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

2. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1½-pound (small cantaloupe-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a rough ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

3. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a ½-inch-thick rectangle, about 8×9 inches, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking.

4. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out about a dozen circles. (Return the scraps to the bucket of dough to use later.) Lay the dough rounds on the prepared baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and allow to rest at room temperature for 45 minutes; they should be very soft and puffy.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven.

6. Make an indent in the middle of each dough round, about 1½ inches in diameter. Fill that indent with 2 tablespoons of your prepared filling of choice. Brush the exposed edges with the egg wash.

7. Bake the pastries for about 20 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown. Serve warm or cooled.

RECIPES AND PHOTOS FROM “HOLIDAY AND CELEBRATION BREAD IN 5 MINUTES A DAY: SWEET AND DECADENT BAKING FOR EVERY OCCASION” BY ZOË FRANÇOIS AND JEFF HERTZBERG, M.D. ©2018 REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION OF ST. MARTIN’S PRESS NEW YORK. PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARAH KIEFFER AND ZOË FRANÇOIS.

Amish-Style Milk Bread

MAKES 2 (2-POUND) LOAVES

2½ cups whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon granulated yeast

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1/3 cup sugar

6¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup potato flour

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1. Mix the milk, eggs, yeast, salt and sugar in a 6-quart bowl or a lidded (not airtight) food container.

2. Mix the flours and butter with the milk mixture without kneading, using a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle), a Danish dough whisk or a spoon.

3. Cover (not airtight), allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours, and then refrigerate.

4. The dough can be used as soon as it’s thoroughly chilled, at least 3 hours. Refrigerate the container and use over the next 5 days.

5. Proceed to Kolache recipe step 2 for preparing and baking Kolache with this dough.

Cook’s Note: To make into a loaf, dust refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a cantaloupe-size portion, form into an oval, and place in a greased 81/2x41/2-inch nonstick loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and rest at room temp for 90 minutes. Brush top with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water) and bake at 350°F for about 50 minutes. Remove from pan to cool.