Festive Mincemeat, Marzipan & Apple Bread Wreath: An Enchanting Christmas Centerpiece (Vegan-Friendly!)
Discover the magic of holiday baking with this exquisite Mincemeat, Marzipan, and Apple Bread Wreath – a truly impressive and delightfully festive centrepiece that captures the essence of Christmas flavours. With a simple option to make it completely vegan, this recipe is perfect for everyone to enjoy.
As the festive season approaches, the kitchen transforms into a haven of warmth and enticing aromas. What better way to celebrate than with a show-stopping bake that not only tastes incredible but also serves as a beautiful focal point for your holiday table? This Mincemeat, Marzipan, and Apple Bread Wreath is precisely that – a stunning braided bread, brimming with the quintessential flavours of Christmas, designed to impress and delight your family and guests. It’s the perfect treat for a special festive breakfast, a holiday brunch, or simply to enjoy with a cup of tea throughout the joyful season.
My journey to creating this delightful bread wreath began, as many good recipes do, with a surplus. After making various Christmas treats, I found myself with an abundance of mincemeat jars. While a classic mince pie is always a welcome indulgence (and my personal consumption limit is, admittedly, quite high), I was eager to explore a new and equally festive way to incorporate this rich, spiced fruit filling. The idea of a sweet bread, artfully shaped and filled with complementary flavours, quickly took root, leading to this impressive bread wreath.
The Charm of a Braided Bread Wreath
There’s something inherently appealing about a braided loaf, especially when it’s shaped into a festive wreath or ‘couronne’. This particular shaping technique, while looking incredibly intricate and professional, is surprisingly simple to achieve. You don’t need to be an expert baker to create this visually striking bread. The method involves rolling out the dough, spreading the delicious filling, rolling it into a log, slicing it lengthwise to expose the vibrant layers, and then twisting the two halves together before forming a circular wreath. The result is a beautifully rustic yet elegant loaf that promises a burst of flavour in every bite.
Beyond its stunning appearance, this festive bread wreath serves a dual purpose: it’s an ideal centrepiece for your holiday table and a wonderfully comforting treat to share. Imagine it gracing your Christmas breakfast spread, surrounded by fresh fruit and steaming mugs of coffee or hot chocolate. Its inviting aroma alone will set a joyous tone for any gathering, making it a truly memorable part of your holiday celebrations.
A Symphony of Festive Flavours: Mincemeat, Marzipan & Apple
What truly elevates this bread wreath is its exquisite filling – a harmonious blend of classic Christmas ingredients that come together to create a taste sensation. Each component plays a vital role in balancing sweetness, spice, and texture, ensuring a rich and satisfying experience.
Rich and Spiced Mincemeat
Mincemeat, traditionally a staple of British Christmas baking, provides the deep, complex base for our wreath. This sweet, spiced fruit mixture, typically made with dried fruits, suet (or vegetable suet for a vegetarian/vegan version), sugar, and a generous amount of warming spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, evokes pure holiday nostalgia. Its rich, jam-like consistency and intense flavour infuse the bread with an unmistakable Christmassy essence. Using a pre-made jar simplifies the process, but if you have a favourite homemade recipe, that works beautifully too!
Sweet and Nutty Marzipan
The addition of diced marzipan introduces a delightful sweetness and a distinct almond flavour that perfectly complements the mincemeat. Marzipan, with its smooth yet slightly chewy texture, melts slightly during baking, creating pockets of almondy goodness throughout the bread. Whether you use homemade marzipan for an extra special touch or a good quality store-bought variety, its presence is key to achieving the bread’s unique and luxurious taste profile.
Fresh and Crisp Apple
To cut through the richness of the mincemeat and marzipan, and to add a touch of freshness and moisture, finely chopped apple is incorporated into the filling. A crisp eating apple, such as Braeburn, provides a subtle tartness and a pleasant textural contrast. As it bakes, the apple softens and mingles with the other fillings, contributing a juicy sweetness that brightens the entire flavour profile. Peeling and finely dicing the apple ensures it integrates seamlessly into the intricate layers of the wreath.
Together, these three ingredients create a filling that is both comforting and sophisticated, making every slice of this bread wreath a festive revelation.
Crafting the Perfect Dough: Tips for Success
The foundation of any great bread is a well-made dough. This recipe uses a sweet, enriched dough that becomes wonderfully soft and fluffy when baked. For the best flavour and texture, I highly recommend making the dough the day before you plan to bake. Allowing it to rise slowly in the fridge overnight not only enhances the depth of flavour but also makes the process more convenient, cutting down on waiting time when you’re eager to enjoy your festive creation.
When preparing the dough, ensure your milk and butter mixture is lukewarm – warm enough to activate the yeast but not so hot that it kills it. You should be able to comfortably hold your finger in it. Kneading the dough until it is smooth and elastic is crucial for developing the gluten, which gives the bread its lovely chewiness and structure. Whether you use a stand mixer with a dough hook or knead by hand, persist until the dough transforms from a sticky mess into a supple, workable ball. This dedication in the initial stages guarantees a superior final product.
The Finishing Touches: Glaze and Icing
Once baked to golden perfection, a few simple finishing touches elevate this bread wreath from delicious to truly irresistible. A brushing of warm apricot jam provides a beautiful glossy sheen, making the wreath look even more enticing and adding a subtle fruity sweetness. The jam also helps to seal in moisture, keeping the bread fresh for longer.
For an extra festive flourish, a drizzle of simple icing sugar glaze is added just before serving. This sweet, snowy-white icing contrasts beautifully with the golden bread and the rich filling, adding another layer of sweetness and visual appeal that screams “Christmas!” These final steps not only enhance the bread’s flavour and appearance but also make it feel extra special for the holidays.
Vegan and Dietary Adaptations
One of the wonderful aspects of this recipe is its adaptability. I’ve carefully included all the necessary swaps in the recipe card below to effortlessly transform this bread wreath into a delicious vegan, eggless, and dairy-free treat. Using a good quality vegan block butter or margarine, non-dairy milk, and a flax egg substitution ensures that the dough retains its beautiful texture and flavour without any compromise. This means everyone can enjoy a slice of this magnificent festive bake, regardless of dietary preferences.
Baking Tips for a Perfect Wreath
To ensure your Mincemeat, Marzipan, and Apple Bread Wreath turns out perfectly every time, here are a few key baking tips:
- **Accuracy is Key:** For baking, especially bread, precise measurements are vital. I always recommend using a digital scale for gram measurements rather than cup conversions, as cup measurements can be inaccurate and impact the final result.
- **Patience with Rising:** Don’t rush the rising process. A slow, steady rise, particularly the overnight fridge method, contributes significantly to both the flavour and texture of the bread. The dough should look visibly puffy and spring back slowly when gently pressed.
- **Monitor Baking:** Keep an eye on your bread during baking. If the top starts to brown too quickly, loosely tent it with aluminium foil to prevent over-browning while the inside continues to cook through. The internal temperature should reach at least 94°C (202°F) to ensure it’s fully cooked.
- **Cooling:** Allow the bread to cool on the tray before glazing. This helps it to set and makes it easier to handle without it falling apart.
- **Storage:** Store any leftover bread in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-4 days, or freeze slices for longer storage.
This Mincemeat, Marzipan, and Apple Bread Wreath is more than just a recipe; it’s an invitation to create something truly special and memorable this holiday season. Its captivating appearance and harmonious blend of festive flavours make it an undeniable highlight, bringing warmth and cheer to any Christmas gathering. So, roll up your sleeves, gather your ingredients, and embark on a delightful baking adventure that will fill your home with the magic of Christmas!
If you tried this recipe, we’d love to see your creations! Why not tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and hashtag it #domesticgothess to share your festive bread wreath?
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Mincemeat, Marzipan and Apple Bread Wreath
Ingredients
Dough:
- 50 g (½ stick) unsalted butter (or a vegan block butter/margarine)
- 150 ml (⅔ cup) full fat milk (or non-dairy milk)
- 300 g (2 ½ cups) strong white bread flour
- 8 g (2 ½ tsp) fast action yeast
- ½ tsp salt
- 50 g (¼ cup) sugar
- 1 large egg (or a flax egg – 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 Tbsp water)
Filling:
- one 411g jar mincemeat
- 350 g (12 oz) marzipan diced
- 1 medium eating apple (such as braeburn) peeled, cored and finely diced
- 2 Tbsp apricot jam
- 100 g (1 cup) icing (powdered) sugar sifted
- a drop of milk
Instructions
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Heat the milk in a small pan with the butter until melted; remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly. You should be able to hold your finger in it with no discomfort.
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Tip the flour into the bowl of a food mixer with the sugar, yeast and salt, then mix. Lightly beat the egg in a cup. Pour the lukewarm buttery milk into the flour and add the beaten egg. Mix to combine, scraping down the sides as necessary, until a dough is formed. Then knead the dough for 5 minutes with a dough hook in the mixer, on a medium speed until smooth and elastic. Or, mix the ingredients in a bowl by hand, making a well in the centre of the flour to pour the egg and buttery milk into, mix and then bring the dough together with your hands before kneading it for 10 minutes on an un-floured work surface. It should be sticky at first but become smooth as you knead it.
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Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has more or less doubled in size. Alternatively, place the bowl in the fridge and leave to rise overnight.
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Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Without knocking it back, roll out the dough into a large rectangle about 33x25cm/13x10in in size.
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Spread over the mincemeat evenly then scatter over the diced marzipan and apple.
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Roll the dough up from one of the long edges into a log. Slice the log in half length-ways, exposing the filling. Twist the two halves together then shape into a circle, pinching the ends together to seal. Transfer onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, loosely cover with oiled clingfilm and set aside to rise for about an hour until the dough is puffy and springs back slowly when you press it with a finger.
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Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Bake the bread for about 30-40 minutes until well risen, golden and cooked through – the internal temperature should reach at least 94C/202F. Cover loosely with tin foil partway through baking if the top starts to colour too much.
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Leave the bread to cool on the tray before serving. While the loaf is cooling, heat the apricot jam with a splash of water in a small pan over a medium heat until runny. Pass through a sieve to remove any pieces of fruit, then brush the sieved jam all over the warm bread to glaze. Set aside to cool completely.
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Just before serving, in a bowl mix the icing sugar with enough milk to form a runny icing and drizzle it all over the wreath.
Notes
