Krendel (Ukrainian Christmas Bread)

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Krendel or Krendl is a traditional Christmas bread in Ukraine. It's also very popular in Russia. 

It's very similar to the Eastern European bread Vánočka or Vianočka in the way it is twisted and in that, it also contains macerated fruits and rich dough. The word is of German origin and a corruption of kringle. 

INGREDIENTS

for the filling: 

1 large apple, diced

40 gms chopped prunes

40 gms chopped apricots

40 gms chopped pears OR raisins (if you can't find pears in season)

30 gms dark sugar

20 gms unsalted butter

Combine all these ingredients into a pan and cook on medium heat for about 10 - 15 minutes, until thick. 

Leave covered to cool completely before moving on. 

The fruit can be prepared in advance, even the previous day. 

The Next Day

Preparing the dough

INGREDIENTS

300 gms strong white bread flour

140 gms tepid milk

4 gms instant active yeast

50 gms unsalted butter (softened)

6 gms crushed sea salt

40 gms dark sugar

2 egg yolks (cold from the refrigerator)

2 gms cinnamon

2 gms vanilla syrup 

(if you don't have vanilla syrup, you can easily make your own. Use 1:1 sugar: boiling water and stir. As it is cooling, add enough vanilla essence to taste but not overpower. (Remember, it'll be hot!) When it's cold, store it in a small bottle for future use. 

Mix everything for the dough together and knead until it's soft and silky. 

Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and keep in a warm place for an hour. 

Stretch and fold the dough, re-cover and leave in the warm place for a further hour. 

Lightly flour a work surface.

Tip the dough out onto the surface and cover with a cloth. leave the dough for ten minutes to relax. It'll make rolling out a good deal easier. 

Roll the dough out into a  large rectangle. 

Spread out the fruit leaving about one inch all the way round. 

Wet the one inch of uncovered dough with water. 

Roll the dough up into a fairly tight tube. Seal the edges and ends 

Shape the dough into a crescent and then shape it to suit. 

Traditional shapes include a loose plait or tucking the ends in to make more or a pretzel shape. 

Place on a tray under a sheet of parchment paper or silicone sheet, cover lightly and allow to proof for a further hour until it has doubled in size. 

Don't rush the second proof...give the dough time to increase in volume and to 'puff up'. It needs to have air in the dough. As a guide, at 24⁰C, it took a little over 159 minutes to be ready to bake. 

Preheat the oven to 160⁰C (Conventional) 150⁰C (Fan)

Bake for 50 minutes until the internal temperature is 94⁰C.

Place the Krendl on a rack and apply the glaze. You may choose to apply the glaze while the bread is hot, warm or cooled. 

The Glaze

150 gms icing sugar

The juice of 2 lemons

Half a teaspoon of Vanilla essence (to taste)

Mix to a runny consistency. 

Dribble the glaze over the loaf and allow it to set. 

You can also add some extremely thin parings of lemon peel as well. 

Let the krendl cool down before eating. 

Happy Baking. Щасливої випічки. Shchaslyvoyi ​​vypichky

And from the taste testers:

POSTCRIPT

A note on shaping. 

As you can see, the fruit and dough form a long 'sausage'. The first shape I worked with was this:

It allowed 'slices' to be cut that showed the layers of bread and fruit. This one went out to tastetesters. 

The second, and final trial was more of a pretzel shape and, as such, it was harder to remember how best to cut it to show the layers of fruit and dough. 

The rest...is over to you!