One of the many Greek Christmas traditions is to bake loaves of Christopsomo bread, so this year we add it in our festive baking list and warm the house with Christmas aromas! “Christopsomo” translates into bread of Christ and it is the perfect assortment for your morning or afternoon coffee next to the fireplace on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It also constitutes a different treat for any friends dropping by to see you during the holidays. 

The recipe for making “Christopsomo” is relatively easy and guarantees a complete sensory overload as it contains sweet honey, rich milk, eggs, extra virgin olive oil, almonds and a complex of spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, allspice and lemon zest.

The combination of the fresh ingredients and spices that we will use to make our Christmas “christopsomo” bread smell absolutely amazing as we mix the dough and once we will put it in the oven our house will be filled with the warm, spicy aromas that are so reminiscent of the Christmas holidays.

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

8 cups of bread flour plus more if needed

1 3/4 cups of sugar

2 cups of warmed full fat milk

2 teaspoons ground anise seeds

1 teaspoon of cooking salt

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 teaspoon ground mastic gum (optional)

1 pack of melted unsalted butter plus more butter for the pans

5 large lightly beaten eggs

vegetable oil for bowl, ¼ cup olive oil

1½ cups of water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground allspice, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup chopped almonds, ½ cup of raisins 

¼ cup of honey

Recipe notes and process

Stir together the flour, water and yeast in a bowl until all of the flour is hydrated. Mix until the dough becomes soft and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave to ferment at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours. Immediately refrigerate after that. When you are ready to make the bread, take the needed amount of the mixture from the fridge at least 1 hour before making the dough. Stir together the flour, salt, yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in a large mixing bowl and then add the eggs, honey, oil, and milk. Stir together in the mixer at low speed until the dough shapes into a ball.

Sprinkle some flour on the counter and knead the dough on your cooking surface. You can add more milk or flour if needed as you go along to form the dough into a soft ball that should not feel sticky at the end. Continue kneading and gradually adding the raisins, the figs and walnuts just before you finish off. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough rolling it around. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it ferment at room temperature for about 90 minutes or until it doubles in size.

The dough is now ready to shape into a round loaf. At the top you can add a cross-shaped strand of dough in order to make it look more Christmassy. Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes or until the loaf becomes golden brown. To finish off, brush the loaf with some glaze made of honey and sprinkle it with the anise seeds.

Let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. What a lovely and different Christmas treat!!

From: Eva Kanellopoulos

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