Greek christmas bread

 

Christopomo or greek  christ mas bread is popular in Greece like fruit cake in some countries.They use alcohols such as brandy and red wine to make this bread .Use fruit juice if you do not like to add alchols to it .

This is perfect for christmas breakfast or as a sweet treat.

preparation time ;  about 3 hours

Wheat flour 600 g

Pinch of  salt

Baker's dry yeast 7 g

Warm water 120 ml

Warm red wine or apple juice 120 ml

Extra virgin olive oil 60 ml

Orange juice 30 ml

Cognac,or use brandy or fruit juice

30 ml

Orange zest of 1 orange 

Sugar 90 g

 raisins150 g

Chopped nuts 150 g

Pine nuts 100 g

Aniseed grain 1 tablespoon

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Honey 2 tablespoons

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Sesame seeds 1-2 tablespoons

We begin by marinating the raisins in the cognac. Ideally, leave them macerating for at least an hour, so they hydrate well. In a bowl, mix the yeast with 60 ml of warm water and the 2 tablespoons of flour, stir until they dissolve well and let the mixture rest for about ten minutes, until the dough bubbles.

We put the flour in a bowl, make a hole in the center and pour in it the yeast mixture, the remaining warm water, and the warm wine. Mix until you get a smooth dough. Next, we add the rest of the ingredients and knead until everything is well integrated (we may have to add a little more flour, but better to do it little by little).

We put the dough in a bowl placed in a warm place, cover it with a clean cloth and let it double in size (about 2 hours). Knead again to get the air out. We remove two portions of dough and with the rest we form a bread. With the reserved portions of dough we make two long rolls and place them crossed on the bread, dragging the ends out.

We place a container with water in the oven preheated to 180ºC and place the bread. We let it cook for half an hour at 180ºC, then we remove the container with water and leave it for another ten minutes at 200ºC, so that it browns. While we prepare bread for the coverage, for this we beat the honey and the lemon juice.

When the bread is already cooked, we take it out of the oven, place it on a rack and paint its surface well with the coating, so that it is shiny. Finally, sprinkle roasted sesame seeds on top and let it cool well before tasting it.