Pickled walnut celebration bread wreath
Impress your guests with this absolute show-stopper of a bread wreath! Perfect for Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day or any other special entertaining occasion, simply dress up or down with seasonal garnishes.
Method
1. Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Measure out the lukewarm water, stir in the yeast and caster sugar, then leave the yeast to develop for 10 minutes until frothy.2. Pour the yeast water into the flour and mix until a dough is formed. Knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes or using a stand mixer.
3. Cover the bowl with a clean tea-towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size.
4. Knock back the dough then knead in the pickled walnuts, sun dried tomatoes, all but 1 tbsp of the Parmesan and finally the chopped rosemary. Divide the dough into 18 even sized pieces. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, adding a little more flour if the dough feels too sticky.
5. Place a large ramekin or similar-sized bowl into the centre of a baking sheet (this has to be the size of the camembert or slightly bigger). Position the balls of dough around the ramekin leaving a 5mm gap between each ball.
6. Make a second ring of balls around the first, again leaving a 1/2cm between each. Cover with a tea towel until the dough doubles in size.
7. Pre-heat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / gas 5. Brush the bread rolls with melted butter then scatter over the remaining Parmesan, salt and a little extra rosemary. Bake (with the empty ramekin still in the middle) for 30 minutes or until golden.
8. Just before serving, unwrap the camembert and place back in its wooden box without the lid. Stud with garlic and bake for 10-12 minutes until melty. Remove the ramekin, carefully place the bread wreath onto a board and position the box of camembert in the middle, then decorate with extra rosemary sprigs and serve.
Tip
For a summery feel try adding edible flowers such as pansies, or dot with fresh cranberries and rosemary sprigs for a more wintery look.Ingredients
For the tomato, Parmesan and pickled walnut bread rolls:
• 500g strong white bread flour, plus extra for rolling/kneading
• 1 tsp salt
• 1½ tsp fast action yeast
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 350ml lukewarm water
• 3 Opies Pickled Walnuts, finely chopped
• 75g sun-dried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped
• 60g Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 tsp sea salt
For the camembert:
• 1 round camembert in a wooden box, to bake
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• Fresh rosemary sprigs