Anita’s Swedish Braided Bread

Anita taught our cooking class this month how to make this delicious swedish braided bread (or swedish tea ring). I have to tell you that this bread was SOOOOOOO good! When I came home, Michael and I decided we would eat a few servings for dessert that night and breakfast the next morning but then give the rest away to our neighbors. Yeah….that never happened. Sorry neighbors! Also, it would seem that this recipe is complicated but its surprisingly easy. Hopefully my photos will walk you through the steps pretty easily so that you have no trouble at home. This is definitely a “show off” type recipe that makes you look like a super baker in front of your friends. I like those types of recipes…..! What can I say? I like attention. 😉 Enjoy and thanks again Anita!

(This bread shot taken the morning after… 🙂

Yields 3 Breads

2 cups dairy sour cream

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

2 eggs

6 cups (approx) all-purpose flour

2 cans apple pie filling

For Topping:

Toasted Almonds

Buttercream icing

Heat sour cream in microwave until lukewarm. Add butter to the sour cream. (This allows the butter to soften) Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sour cream, butter, sugar, eggs and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Mix in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto well-floured board and knead until smooth – about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover, let rise in a warm place until double in size, about an hour. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Punch down dough; divide into 3 equal parts. Roll each part into rectangle and place 1/3 of the apple filling in each bread. Cut along the sides of the dough with scissors and pull the dough across the top of the filling to create a braided effect. Place on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. While warm, brush with icing and sprinkle with toasted almonds.

*If doing the tea ring instead of the braid, roll the dough into a rectangle and then turn into a circle and place apples in the center of the dough. Wrap the ends then make cuts to show the apples.