Cardamom Wreath Bread

From 'Midwest Living' mag, Feb. 2007 issue. This looked so good, I wanted to try it last week at our baking party. Ran out of time. So I made it this weekend. Big hit at work, and I can't stop nibbling at it. The hardest part was braiding it. I did just fine until it came to joining the ends to make a circle. Which rope gets joined to which? Oh well, I guessed. And the wreaths turned out just fine.

I was trying to describe the taste of cardamom to someone at work. This wasn't easy. Kind of like cinnamon only more woodsy. More resin or pine overtones. I love the stuff. I sometimes put whole pods in my coffee, and every time I add cinnamon to something, I add cardamom, too.

1/3 cup warm water (105-115 F)
2 packages active yeast
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup dairy sour cream
1 tablespoon finely shredded orange peel
2 1/4 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons salt
7 to 7 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 egg lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk
coarse sugar or sliced almonds (optional)

1. In a small bowl, stir together the warm water and the yeast; set aside for 5 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar to the mixing bowl. Beat the mixture until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the 3 eggs and beat until combined. Stir in the evaporated milk, sour cream, orange peel, cardamom and salt. Stir in the yeast mixture (mixture will look curdled). Stir in as much of the flour as you can with a wooden spoon.
3. Turn the bread dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (about 6-8 minutes total).
4. Shape the dough into a ball. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface of dough. Cover, let rise in a warm place until double in size (about an hour).
5. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 6 equal portions. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes.
6. Roll each portion of dough into a ball. Roll each ball into an evenly thick rope that is 22-24 inches long. Line up 3 of the ropes one inch apart on the lightly floured surface. Starting in the middle, braid by bringing left rope underneath center rope; lay it down. Then bring right rope under new center rope; lay it down (I have the Ratt song 'Lay it Down' running through my head right now). Repeat to end. On the other end, braid by bringing outside ropes alternately over center rope to center. Braid the ropes loosely so the bread has room to expand. Join ends of braid to form a wreath.
7. Carefully transfer the shaped wreath to a greased baking sheet (I always use parchment paper...no need to grease or sometimes even wash the pans). Repeat braiding and shaping into a wreath with the remaining three ropes for a second wreath. Transfer to baking sheet. Cover; let rise until dough is almost double in size (45 to 60 minutes).
8. Stir together the 1 egg and 1 tablespoon milk. Brush over the tops of wreaths. If you like, top with coarse sugar or sliced almonds. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned and bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped (if necessary, cover with foil the last 5 to 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning). Remove from oven. Transfer the wreaths to wire racks and let cool.

The recipe suggests serving with cardamom butter (mixing butter, powdered sugar, cardamom and orange peel). Sounds good, but it's actually good on its own. Me, I was thinking cream cheese. So I added all of the above to some neufchatel.