I loved the idea of having a ‘butter candle’ lit at the table in the centre of my sourdough wreath. This added to the festive feeling of Christmas. The effort of both recipes was worth it for the effect.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Sourdough Wreath ♥
Making sourdough
Every December I take Cordelia out of the fridge and feed her. I can literally ignore my starter for months and within a few days of revival, it is ready to go. Over the years I have perfected a few tricks which I am going to share with you. First, before you start on the sourdough journey find yourself a good jar to keep your starter in. Weigh this jar and then proceed with making your own starter. If you leave your starter to hibernate like I do, this weight measurement will be critical. I pour off the hooch and then weigh the jar, and then I work out the weight of the starter by taking this weight and minusing the weight of the jar. Then I add the same weight flour and water and mix it in using a small whisk. I then leave my starter out on the windowsill, with the lid off. And when the starter is active I know I can get on with bread making.
A sourdough wreath
I loved the texture of my crown sourdough challah and used this recipe as the base to make my wreath. This was part of our family Christmas meal and in the centre I placed my niter kibbeh candle. As with all artisan breads, one needs to be patient. This sourdough wreath took 2 days from start to finish. The hot summer weather helped speed up the process. But you need to let nature take its course when waiting for your starter to become active. When making anything that needs a sourdough starter, I remove 2 tablespoons of starter from Cordelia and feed that for what I am making. And I give Cordelia a feed at the same time.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Sourdough Wreath ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Sourdough Wreath
Ingredients
Day 1:
For the starter:
- 35 g active sourdough starter
- 35 g water
- 35 g bread flour
For the wreath:
- 500 g bread flour, plus extra for dusting
- 185 g water
- 40 g honey
- 2 eggs
- 10 g fine salt
- 40 g canola oil, plus extra for greasing
Day 2:
To bake:
- 1 egg white, slackened
- sesame seeds for sprinkling
Method
Day 1:
For the starter:
- Place the starter, water and flour into a stand mixer bowl and whisk to combine
- Cover and leave to activate for 4 hours
For the wreath:
- Add the flour, water, honey, and eggs to the starter and use a dough hook to mix until the dough just comes together
- Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes
- Sprinkle the salt on top of the dough, add a quarter of the oil and mix with the dough hook until the oil is absorbed
- Continue to do this with the rest of the oil, adding a quarter at a time until the oil is well mixed into the dough
- Knead for 10 minutes then remove the dough from the bowl
- Lightly oil the bowl, tip the dough back into the bowl and lightly oil the top of the dough *
- Cover and leave to prove for 2 hours
- Place into the fridge overnight
Day 2:
- Remove the dough from the fridge and turn out onto your work surface
- Divide into four equal portions and roll each portion into a tight ball
- Place seam side down and cover with lightly oiled cling wrap
- Set aside for 10 minutes to rest
- Roll each ball into a rectangle shape, rolling on each side to achieve a length of 20cm
- Roll each rectangle like a Swiss roll, using the longest edge
- Once they have all been rolled, cover with the oiled cling wrap, and leave to rest for 10 minutes
- Line a 23cm round baking tray and place a cutter in the middle **
- Roll each piece of dough into a 40cm long strand
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour and twist two of the strands together by pinching the top of the strands together, and stretching while you twist so that the strand is 40cm long
- Pinch the bottom of the strands together then carefully lift the dough and place onto your baking tray, around the cutter, then pinch the ends of the dough together
- Repeat with the other two strands, stretching them to 45cm and place next to the first twist, pinching the ends together
- Cover with the oiled cling wrap and leave to prove for 4 hours
- Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
- Glaze the top of the dough with the egg white, sprinkle sesame seeds over the top and place into the oven
- Bake for 40 minutes then remove from the oven
- Leave to cool completely before removing the cutter and slicing the bread
Notes
** if using the wreath for a candle your cutter needs to be slightly larger than the candle
See the links below for blog posts I published on May 7:
- 2023: Unnatural History
- 2021: Spicy Roast Potatoes
- 2018: Polenta Chips
- 2017: The Bone Collection
- 2015: Peach And Pistachio Rusks
- 2014: Today I Am Off To Vote
- 2013: Sweet Potato Muffins
- 2012: Appletini
- 2011: Pears: Regional And Seasonal Challenge
- 2010: Broccoli And Cheese Soup
I’m not a bread baker so I really admire your bread making skills!
Thank you Sherry!
Worth the effort for sure!
Thanks for sharing this creative recipe—we’re excited to bake and enjoy this beautiful and delicious centerpiece for special occasions!
Enjoy!
I wish I had your ninja baking skills – I’d love to make my own sourdough but just don’t think my skills would cut it (excuse the pun!) Your wreath is outstanding and I love the candle in the middle – it’s thoroughly festive!
If I ever come back to the UK I will bake bread for you!
Such a beautiful bread and idea. I am a sourdough serial killer. So, I have given up on it.
If you lived closer I would cure you of that!
I’ve got a friend who keeps forgetting to feed her sourdough starter. I’m going to send her a link so she can see that some starters are not as needy as others. 😊
Luckily for me, mine is not needy at all, and I hope she can revive hers 🙂