Tear & Share Star Loaf
Foreword
Inspired by watching many seasons of The Great British Bake Off, this is a technique for making a festive and impressive filled bread. We have suggested one delicious filling, but encourage you to get creative. Pesto; shredded chicken, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes; marinara and pepperoni; curry chicken with golden raisins and slivered almonds; ricotta and jam; or chocolate are all delicious options.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe of “Basic Bread” dough, mixed and unrisen
- 2 to 4 drops gel food coloring
- ½ cup pesto (we recommend a spinach pesto)
- 1 cup shredded parmesan
Directions
- Split the bread dough in half, and mix the food coloring into one half of the dough.
- Let rise.
- Make the filling and mix together.
- Prepare a large baking sheet.
- When the dough is done rising, roll each half into a large circle, ~14 inches in diameter.
- Place the plain dough circle on the baking sheet, cover that entirely with an even layer of the filling, then cover all of that with the circle of colored dough like a giant sandwich. Try to make all of the edges line up neatly
- Place an ~2 inch diameter bowl or cup upside down in the center of the circle to use as a guide.
- Cut eight sections into the dough, creating evenly spaced slits radiating outwards from the center of the circle (leaving an ~2 inch diameter circle connected in the center where the guide is).
- In the same way, cut each of the original eight sections in half lengthwise to make sixteen even strips. (Each of the eighths will eventually be rejoined.)
- For each of the original eight sections:
- Take the two halves of the section and rotate them away from each other, the right side rotated to the right and the left side rotated to the left. Rotate each by 3 turns.
- Join the tops of each half (the part that was the original edge of the circle) together to form a point.
- Once all points are formed, bake at 350°F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Notes
Here is a diagram to help convey the cutting and twisting pattern:
