This is one of my favorite holiday baking traditions.
Every year we do Christmas brunch at my parents house with extended family. For many years, this tradition was accompanied by a danish wreath from Virginia Bakery (located in Berkeley, CA). When they closed several years ago, I took it upon myself to continue the tradition and now every Christmas we get to enjoy a freshly baked raspberry danish wreath.
A few notes:
- Same-day Bake: As I usually make this for Christmas morning, I put together the wreath the night before and then leave it in the fridge overnight. If you’re making this to have the same day, after you shape the wreath in the pan, let it rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size and then pop into a 350℉ preheated oven to bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Stand mixer: Since my parents do not own a stand mixer, I have only ever made this by kneading everything by hand. If you do have a stand mixer, add all the ingredients to a bowl of a stand mixer, mix on low to combine, and then mix on medium for about 4 minutes. The dough should be smooth and spring back when touched.
- Raspberry Jam: I’d recommend using anything that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient… trust me, it’s worth it.
- Frozen Raspberries: Use as many of these as you would like! I like a nice even layer over the butter/jam filling but feel free to adjust to your taste. Also, pro tip: Smash the raspberries in the packaging before distributing them over the filling to save your finger tips from freezing!
- Other fun ways to serve this: Now I’ve never tried to shape the raspberry danish dough into anything besides a wreath, but in my head, this dough would also be great as:
- Raspberry “Cinnamon” Rolls: Once you roll up the dough with the filling, cut into 12 pieces widthwise, arrange them in a 13×9 glass baking dish and let rise and proof as you would the wreath.
- Raspberry Muffin “Twists”: Either cut the dough like you would above to make cinnamon rolls and place in a muffin tin or shape the dough like you see here. Again, let rise for 45 minutes and bake for about 20 or until the twists are golden brown.
Raspberry Danish Wreath
I make this Raspberry Danish Wreath for my family every Christmas Eve so we can have it fresh out of the oven on Christmas morning. It's one of my favorite holiday baking traditions and I hope you love it as much as we do!
Ingredients
Enriched Dough
- 3 1/2 Cups AP flour
- 1/4 Cup Sugar
- 1 Packet Active Dry Yeast, 2 ¼ Tsp or 8g
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/4 Cup Unsalted butter
- 1 Cup Milk
- 1 Egg, room temperature
Jam Filling
- 1/2 Cup Unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 Cup Raspberry jam
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- ~1.5 Cup Frozen raspberries, crushed/smashed
Glaze
- 1 Cup Powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp Milk
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.3 1/2 Cups AP flour, 1/4 Cup Sugar, 1 Packet Active Dry Yeast,, 1 tsp Salt
- In a small sauce pan, add the butter and milk. Warm until the mixture is around 110℉ and and the butter is fully melted and incorporated. Add the egg and mix until combined.1/4 Cup Unsalted butter, 1 Cup Milk, 1 Egg,
- Pour the liquid into the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it becomes too difficult to continue mixing. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 6 minutes, adding flour as you go if the dough remains too sticky to handle. The dough should be smooth and elastic after those 6 minutes.
- Place the dough in an ungreased bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm area until doubled in size, about 90 minutes to 2 hours.
- 5-10 minutes before your dough finishes rising, it's time to make the filling. Beat the room temperature butter by hand to soften it and then mix in the jam, vanilla, and cinnamon.1/2 Cup Unsalted butter,, 1 Cup Raspberry jam, 1 tsp Vanilla, 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
- Then generously grease a 10inch cast iron pan (a 12 inch cast iron, or a 10-12 inch glass/ceramic baking pan would also work) and set aside.
- Turn the risen dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a rectangle about 20 x 10 inches.
- Spread the raspberry filling evenly over the dough, leaving about a half inch border along one long edge. Then, sprinkle the frozen raspberries on top of the raspberry filling in an even layer. Pro tip: Frozen raspberries… are cold. Smash/crush them in the bag they came in to save your fingers!~1.5 Cup Frozen raspberries,
- Starting at the long side opposite the border, roll up the dough. Cut the dough in half width wide (you'll now have two equal rolls of dough), and then cut each piece in half lengthwise so you have long 4 pieces with the jam exposed.
- Pick up a piece by each end and twist them in opposite directions. Lay the twisted dough in the middle of the pan, with one end in the center. Twist the dough around itself in a spiral, working from the center towards the outside of the pan. Repeat with the remaining 3 pieces of dough, gradually enlarging the spiral so that it fills the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight to rise.
- The next morning, remove the plastic wrap and place the dough in a cold oven. Heat to 350℉ and then bake for 40-45 minutes, until the wreath is an even golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, and let cool for 5-10 minutes. In the meantime, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk for the glaze in a small bowl. Drizzle over the wreath, using a spoon or spatula to make sure every piece of exposed dough is covered.1 Cup Powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp Milk
- Serve warm in the cast iron pan.
Notes
- Same-day Bake: As I usually make this for Christmas morning, I put together the wreath the night before and then leave it in the fridge overnight. If you’re making this to have the same day, after you shape the wreath in the pan, let it rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size and then pop into a 350℉ preheated oven to bake for 40-45 minutes.
- Stand mixer: Since my parents do not own a stand mixer, I have only ever made this by kneading everything by hand. If you do have a stand mixer, add all the ingredients to a bowl of a stand mixer, mix on low to combine, and then mix on medium for about 4 minutes. The dough should be smooth and spring back when touched.
- Raspberry Jam: I’d recommend using anything that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup as an ingredient… trust me, it’s worth it.
- Frozen Raspberries: Use as many of these as you would like! I like a nice even layer over the butter/jam filling but feel free to adjust to your taste. Also, pro tip: Smash the raspberries in the packaging before distributing them over the filling to save your finger tips from freezing!
- Other fun ways to serve this: Now I’ve never tried to shape the raspberry danish dough into anything besides a wreath, but in my head, this dough would also be great as:
- Raspberry “Cinnamon” Rolls: Once you roll up the dough with the filling, cut into 12 pieces widthwise, arrange them in a 13×9 glass baking dish and let rise and proof as you would the wreath.
- Raspberry Muffin “Twists”: Either cut the dough like you would above to make cinnamon rolls and place in a muffin tin or shape the dough like you see here. Again, let rise for 45 minutes and bake for about 20 or until the twists are golden brown.
