Recipe - Christmas Tree Bread

BREAD
One half cup Margarine
One half cup Sugar
2 teaspoon Salt
2 cup Milk, scalded
2 Env active yeast
One half cup Warm water
2 Eggs, lightly beaten
8 cup Unsifted flour

FRUIT NUT FILLING
Red and green candied
cherries, drained
1 Tube (Three fourths oz) white
decorator frosting
Apricot glaze

FRUIT NUT FILLING
1 One half cup Light corn syrup
1 One half cup Chopped mixed candied fruit
1 One half cup Sliced almonds

APRICOT GLAZE
One half cup Light corn syrup
One half cup Apricot preserves

In large bowl with mixer at medium speed, beat margarine, sugar and salt.
Add milk, beating until margarine is melted. Sprinkle yeast over water,
stir until dissolved. Add to margarine mixture with eggs. With mixer at low
speed add 4 cups of the flour, 1 cup at a time, beating until well mixed.
Stir in remaining flour with wooden spoon. On lightly floured surface knead
8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in greased bowl;
turn to grease top. Cover with towel; let rise in warm place 2 hours or
until doubled in bulk. Punch down dough; form into ball; cut into quarters.
Set 2 quarters aside; cover with towel. Use reserved quarters to make two
Fruit Nut Loaves. (Instructions at end of this recipe.)

On lightly floured surface roll out one quarter into rectangle 15x12
inches. Cut into 2 triangles each with a base of 10 inches, a height of 12
inches and 15 inch sides. Place one triangle on large greased cookie sheet.
Reshape into triangle if necessary. Spread 1 cup of Fruit Nut Filling over
dough on cookie sheet to within One half inch of edge; moisten edges with water.
Place second dough triangle over fruit filled one pressing to seal edges.
Roll out second quarter of dough to One half inch thickness. With 2 One half inch
doughnut cutter cut 17 circles; remove centers. Overlap cut circles on tree
triangle. Roll out scraps of dough to One half inch thickness; cut one 2 inch
square. Place on center of base of triangle to form "trunk" of tree. Cut
one 3 inch star; place on top of tree. Cover; allow to rise in warm place 1
hour or until almost doubled in bulk. Bake in 350F oven 35 minutes or
until golden brown. Remove from oven. Place cherries in center of circles.
While warm, brush lightly with glaze. Decorate tree with decorator
frosting. Makes one tree and 2 loaves.

FruitNut Filling: In small saucepan stir together all ingredients.
Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat and boil 1 minute.
Cool.

Apricot Glaze: In small saucepan stir together the corn syrup and
preserves. Stirring constantly, bring to boil over medium heat and boil 1
minute.

Fruit Nut Loaves: Grease two 8 One half x 4 One half x 3inch loaf pans. Roll out
each quarter of reserved dough into 15 by 9inch rectangle. Spread 1 cup of
Fruit Nut Filling over each rectangle of dough to within One half inch of edge,
roll each rectangle up from short side. Press ends to seal; fold ends
under; place seam side down into prepared pan. Cover; let rise about 1 hour
or until doubled. Bake in 350F oven 40 to 45 minutes or until bread sounds
hollow when tapped. Remove from oven. While still warm, brush with Apricot
Glaze.

Source: Mom's old magazine clippings 1940's to 1970's Green Bay Press
Gazette (newspaper), December 13, 1978

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini