My First Attempt At Making A Bread Wreath
31st December 2023 - New Experience Number 47.
Ooozing melted cheese just calls to have delicious freshly baked bread dipped into it, so when I found a recipe for making a bread wreath I thought it would be the perfect accompaniment to the baked cheese I’d bought.
Making A Bread Wreath For A New Year Party
Trying fifty-two new things a year since 2018, has often found me feverishly whipping
up food I’ve never made before just before the bells ring to welcome in the new year.
2023 was no exception, but I had a bit of a plan. We were hosting some friends for the merriment, so I used it as an opportunity to have a go at making some snacks.
First up was a bread wreath. I’ve made bread from scratch a while ago, and have since made several dough related items which have been very hit and miss. It was with apprehension that I decided to attempt this new bake, along with making whipped feta dip and rosemary and sea salt crackers,
The Recipe
Trusty BBC Good Food had what looked like a very simple recipe to follow, especially as it used ready made pizza dough.
This particular make included cranberry as one of the fillings, however I ended up not using it, mostly because I didn’t seem to make as many of the individual breaded shapes.
Where I think My Attempt Went Wrong
First off, the dough was very sticky, I’m not sure why but it seemed very attached to the parchment it came on.
Secondly, I’m not sure if I should have rolled the dough a bit thinner as I didn’t get the same number of ‘petals’ as the recipe suggested. I definitely had the right amount of dough the recipe required.
Thirdly, I didn’t have an exact cutter to use, so used a glass to cut out the shapes. I didn’t measure it, but it looked like it was roughly the recommended size!
Fourthly, my petals look very dubious. I mean, they’re a shape, but I’m not sure anyone would instantly identify them as being part of a flower.
Trying My First Attempt At Making A Bread Wreath
I have very good friends. They were complimentary about the lopsided wonky dish I put down in front of them. Whilst it didn’t have the pizzazz of a show stopping sharing snack that I had hoped for, it certainly tasted good.
Dunking a warm breaded petal into the rich and gooey cheese, it was one of those things that tasted much better than it looked. Light and fluffy bread slathered with the rich cheesy goodness was a winner and eagerly devoured.
Want To Try It Yourself?
To attempt to make this exact same bread wreath and hopefully create something slightly prettier, you can follow the baked cheese bread flower recipe from BBC Good Food. I’m not entirely sure why I’ve referred to it as a bread wreath throughout, maybe because I made it in the festive season?!
Cost Of Experience
Buying all of the ingredients for this particular recipe from scratch will cost around £10. depending on where you shop.
- If you do need to buy all of the ingredients from scratch, you’ll have plenty of flour, cranberry sauce and butter left over so you’ll be able to make other things too.
Recommendations
Take your time with this one. I have a feeling I may have rushed it a bit and if I’d taken a bit more care and time it might have turned out looking a bit more like the pictures that accompanied the recipe.
You can play around with the ingredients, whilst this suggested using rosemary as the herb, you might have another favourite herb that you could try use. Perhaps try adding crushed garlic to your butter?
If you’re feeling really adventurous, you could have a go at making your own baked cheese too.
Careful with the first bite – only because baked cheese can often be phenomenally hot.
Don’t forget to take a picture, I’d love to see how yours turn out if you have a go at this.