Kris Kringle Star Bread Recipes

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine Armagnac and dried fruits. Bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 8 minutes. The fruit should absorb all of the Armagnac. Remove from heat. Coarsely chop; set aside.
• In a large saucepan, combine heavy cream, half-and-half, sugar, cinnamon sticks, vanilla pod and seed scrapings, and orange zest. Bring just to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
• In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks. While whisking constantly, gradually ladle half the hot cream mixture into the yolks. Return to saucepan over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, and scraping the sides and edges of the pan untl thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Strain through a large sieve into large bowl, discarding the cinnamon sticks, vanilla pods, and orange zest.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Place brioche cubes in a large bowl. Add dried fruit, reserving 1/2 cup. Pour custard over brioche cubes; toss to combine. Divide brioche cubes evenly between two 2-quart ovenproof bowls; the cubes will mound on top. Sprinkle reserved fruit over the top of each pudding. Sprnkle tops of puddings with sugar. Let stand until bread is saturated, about 20 minutes.
• Brush two 12x12-inch pieces of parchment paper with butter. Place parchment paper, butter side down, over bread. Cover parchment with aluminum foil to seal. Place puddings in a large, deep roasting pan. Place in oven, and add enough boiling water to roasting pan to come 3-inches up sides of bowls. Bake for 1 hour. Uncover, and bake until set, 35-45 minutes more. Serve warm or at room temperature. Will keep refrigerated for 3 days.
• To reheat: Preheat oven to 350°F Place puddings in a deep roasting pan. Place in oven and add enough water to roasting pan to come 3-inches up sides of bowls. Reheat until warm through, about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cut 1 cup butter into flour until crumbly, leaving pea-sized chunks. Stir in sour cream, and mix well; dough will be very sticky. Form dough into a ball. Cover tightly, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Prepare the filling by combining 1 cup butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup chopped walnuts.
• Divide dough into three equal parts; return two parts to the refrigerator to keep cold. Quickly form 1/3 of the dough into a rectangle, and flour lightly. On a heavily floured surface, roll out to approximately 12x17 inches. Position lengthwise on the work surface. Along the long edges of the dough rectangle, use a sharp knife to cut 4 inch long angled lines about 1/2 inch apart. Spoon 1/3 of the filling along the length of the rectangle's uncut center. Alternating from one side of the dough to the other, fold each 1/2 inch wide strip towards the center, crisscrossing the filling in a braid-like fashion. Lightly press together the ends of the strips to seal. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the remaining walnuts. Repeat with remaining ingredients to form 3 braided danishes. Arrange danishes on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool for approximately 30 minutes. While the danishes are cooling, prepare the icing: mix confectioners sugar and water until smooth. Drizzle in fine streams over warm danishes.

Steps:

• Prepare the dough: In the bowl of a food processor, combine all-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Pulse a few times to blend. Add butter and pulse 10 times, or until butter chunks are broken down by about half.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Scrape flour mixture into the bowl and use a flexible spatula to stir together until nearly all the flour is moistened. Use your hand to quickly knead the dough to bring it together. Transfer dough to a work surface, pat into a rectangle, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a roughly 8-by-15-inch rectangle. Fold the two short sides of the rectangle toward the center, folding the rectangle into thirds, like a letter. Rotate dough 90 degrees, then roll out again into a 8-by-15-inch rectangle; fold into thirds again. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes.
• Roll the dough out into a roughly 8-by-15-inch rectangle, fold into thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 20 minutes two more times. At this point, wrapped dough can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days, or freezer for 2 months.
• Prepare the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine almond paste, butter, confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons of the egg whites and the salt. Beat to combine, then beat in lemon juice, adding more to taste, if you like.
• Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Unwrap the dough and cut in half.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll each half into a 6-by-24-inch rectangle. Spread 1/2-cup filling on each in an even strip down the center (about 2 1/2-inches wide).
• Fold one long side over the filling, leaving the remaining third of the dough exposed. Use a pastry brush to the open border of dough with reserved egg whites on both the long side and two short ends. Fold the second long side over the first; pinch and press the seam tightly along the length and at both short ends, sinking your fingertips into the pastry to create a tight seal.
• Remeasure dough to make sure it's at least 24 inches long; if necessary, stretch it back out. Form into an oval, then tuck one end into the other. Pinch and press the seam together, then transfer oval to prepared sheet pans and flip over so it's seam-side down. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 30 to 45 minutes, or until slightly puffy.
• When ready to bake, heat oven to 375 degrees. Brush pastry with more egg white, then bake until golden, about 25 minutes, rotating sheet pans from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.
• As soon as the pastries come out of the oven (and the pastries are piping hot!), do something that seems a little crazy: Compress each pastry slightly by using the sheet pan with the other pastry on it, setting the sheet pan on top of the pastry and pressing gently to eliminate the air pocket between the pastry and filling. Transfer the sheet pans to wire racks and allow pastries to cool completely.
• Prepare the icing: In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, vanilla, fine sea salt and 4 teaspoons water. Spread icing over tops of the kringles. Let icing dry before slicing and serving.

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine filling ingredients. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine water, sugar and salt. Add yeast, stirring until dissolved. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in eggs and butter. Gradually add enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down. Divide dough in half roll each half into a 14-in. circle. Transfer to two greased baking sheets. Cut five slits about 4 in. long into each circle. Place a spoonful of filling in the middle of each section, then spread a thin layer of filling in the center of each star. Fold the two outer edges of each section over each other to form star points. Pinch edges together to seal. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Frost while warm with a confectioners' sugar icing.© Copyright Reiman Publications, 1993-1997

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375ºF.
• Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Beat butter and sugars in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing well after each addition. Stir in remaining ingredients.
• Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.
• Bake 9 to 11 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 3 min. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Steps:

• Brush two 1 1/2-quart ovenproof bowls with butter, and sprinkle with vanilla sugar; tap out excess. Bring Armagnac, dried fruit, and prunes to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fruit has softened and absorbed the liquid, about 10 minutes. Coarsely chop fruit.
• Bring cream, half and half, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, vanilla beans and seeds, and zest to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
• Lightly beat egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisking constantly, gradually ladle half the hot-cream mixture into the yolks. Pour yolk mixture into saucepan with remaining cream mixture. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly and scraping sides of pan, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Pass custard through a fine sieve into a large bowl; discard solids.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In another large bowl, combine brioche cubes and chopped fruit, reserving 1/2 cup fruit. Pour in custard; toss to combine. Divide bread mixture between prepared bowls. Top each with half the reserved fruit. Sprinkle with vanilla sugar. Place a parchment round in water to dampen and transfer to top of pudding bowl to cover. Use a rubber band to secure, and tie with kitchen twine. Repeat process with second bowl. Let stand until bread has soaked up liquid, about 20 minutes.
• Set bowls in deep roasting pan. Transfer pan to oven; add enough boiling water to come 3 inches up sides of bowls. Bake 1 hour. Uncover; bake until set, about 30 minutes more. Serve warm or at room temperature, with sour lemon sauce. Puddings can be refrigerated up to 3 days; let cool completely before covering with plastic wrap. If desired, reheat in a 350-degree oven, just until warm.