Recipe - King Arthurs Egg Braid

1 tablespoon Active dry yeast
1 cup Warm water
One half cup Granulated sugar
1 cup Warm milk
4 Eggs, room temperature
1 Stick butter or margarine
1 One half teaspoon Salt
One half tablespoon Cinnamon
7 cup 79 cups King Arthur
unbleached allpurpose
flour
12 Dyed uncooked eggs

EGG WASH
1 Egg, beaten
1 tablespoon Water
Pinch of salt

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Stir in the sugar and add One half cup flour.
Let this sit for 10minutes to give the yeast a chance to get going. Add
the milk, eggs, butter, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in 4 cups of the flour.
Add more flour until the dough starts to form a shaggy mass. Turn the dough
out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it, adding more flour as
necessary, until the dough has formed a smooth and satiny ball. The dough
will be a little tacky, but it shouldn't be sticky. Put the dough into a
clean bowl and coat it with a little melted butter. This will help prevent
the formation of a skin on the dough due to exposure to the air. Cover the
dough with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let the dough rise in a warm spot
for 1 One half to 2 hours, or until it's quite swollen and puffy looking. Turn
the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead it gently to expel
any air bubbles. You don't need to actively knead the dough at this point;
that will excite the gluten in the dough and make it harder to braid the
bread. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and set one aside. Divide the first
piece into 3 even pieces. Roll each piece into a rope that is 1" in
diameter. Braid the set of ropes and shape the braid into a large circle.
Place the circle on a greased or parchment paperlined baking sheet. Repeat
with the second piece of dough. Cover the loaves with damp towels and let
the wreaths rise for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the
eggs on the wreaths and gently press them into the dough. Brush the dough
with the egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tbs. water and a pinch of salt).
Bake the loaves for 3545 minutes, until nicely browned. Occasionally an
egg will split in the oven. Use a sharp knife to remove it from the wreath
and substitute a dyedhardboiled egg. Cool the wreaths on a rack and ice
when fully cool. Makes 2 wreaths, each yielding 12 large slices. Icing
glaze: 1 One half cups confectioners' sugar 3 tbs orange liqueur Beat the sugar
and the liqueur together. The icing should be the consistency of a thick
salad dressing. Use a fork to drizzle the icing on the wreaths.

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