Best 6 Braided Almond Ring Recipes

DELICIOUS ALMOND BRAIDS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place the almond paste, butter and sugar in a food processor; cover and pulse until chopped. Add egg and flour; process until smooth., Place puff pastry sheets onto a greased baking sheet. Spread half of the filling mixture down the center third of 1 pastry sheet. On each side, cut 8 strips about 3-1/2 in. into the center. Starting at 1 end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling. Pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling., Bake until golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely., Combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and almond extract. Drizzle over braids; sprinkle with almonds. Cut into slices to serve.

ALMOND CREAM-PUFF RING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour a cookie sheet, or use parchment paper. Using a dinner plate as a guide, trace a circle on the sheet.
• In 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, combine water, butter, and salt. Bring to a boil. With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir in flour all at once, until mixture forms a ball, and leaves the sides of the pan. Remove from heat, and beat in the eggs one at a time, until mixture is smooth. Drop batter into 10 mounds inside the circle traced on the cookie sheet, to form a ring.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Turn off oven, leaving ring in for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool on wire rack. When cool, slice in half horizontally, and place bottom ring on serving plate. Spoon Almond Cream Filling on bottom ring, then replace top ring. Chill in refrigerator.
• To make Almond Cream Filling: Prepare pudding according to instructions on package, but use only 1 1/4 cups milk. Fold in whipped cream, and 1 teaspoon almond extract.
• To make Chocolate Glaze: In a double boiler over hot (not boiling) water, combine chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons milk, and 1 1/2 teaspoons corn syrup. Heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Spoon over the top of chilled ring.

PEAR AND ALMOND DANISH BRAID

Steps:

• To prepare the pear filling, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt and stir to combine. Add the pears and cook, gently stirring occasionally, until they are tender, about 4 minutes. Transfer the pears to a plate and let the mixture cool completely.
• Use a coffee grinder to blend the almonds to a fine meal. Transfer the almond meal to a medium bowl. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons butter, the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, the confectioners' sugar, egg yolk and almond extract. Mash the mixture into a paste with a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon.
• On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll the dough into an 11-by-14-inch rectangle. Arrange so a short side is facing you. With a bench scraper or the backside of a knife, very lightly mark off a 3-inch section lengthwise down the center of the dough. (Don't cut through the dough, you're just creating a guide for yourself.) Cut 1-inch strips perpendicular to the lengthwise guidelines, on either side of the 3-inch section. (These strips will be folded up to become the braided top.) Cut off the top and bottom corner strips, leaving the center flap.
• Spread the almond mixture down the 3-inch section of the pastry, leaving about an 1/8-inch border on all sides. Top evenly with the pear mixture, leaving any accumulated liquid on the plate.
• Beat the egg in a small bowl. Very lightly, brush a 1-inch border around the edges of the pastry with some of the beaten egg. (You'll be brushing the pastry that's been cut into strips, and the two end flaps.)
• Fold up the top and bottom ends of the center section to create a barrier for the filling. Starting at the top, fold each strip in at a slightly downward angle over the filling, alternating from left to right. Make sure the strips are overlapping by about 1/2 inch so they don't open up while baking. Using the parchment, move the filled pastry onto a rimmed baking sheet.
• Cover the pastry loosely with plastic wrap and let rest until slightly puffed, about 1 hour. Note the thickness of the strips when you first set it aside and use their growth as a guide. It's ready when the dough bounces back slowly when pressed lightly. (If it bounces back too fast, it hasn't risen enough; if it doesn't bounce back at all, it's gone too far.) While dough is rising, heat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Gently brush the top and sides of the pastry with some of the remaining beaten egg. Bake for 10 minutes then turn the pan and reduce the heat to 375 degrees. Bake until deep golden brown and puffed, 10 to 15 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, make the apricot glaze if desired. Heat the apricot jam in a small saucepan, stirring, until loose. Strain the jam through a mesh sieve into a small bowl; discard the solids. Brush a thin coat of apricot glaze over the warm pastry. Let cool slightly before serving.

ALMOND EASTER BREAD

Steps:

• Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in the warm water in a 1-cup measuring cup, and sprinkle with the yeast. Stir to mix the yeast into the water, and let stand in a warm place until frothy and doubled in volume, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir together 1/3 cup of sugar, 2 raw eggs, salt, the yeast mixture, milk, and 3 cups of flour in a large bowl, and beat with an electric mixer for 3 minutes to develop gluten. Mix the remaining flour into the batter, and beat until the dough is shiny, soft, and elastic, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Place sticks of butter 1 inch apart between 2 large pieces of waxed paper. Roll the butter out into a square about 12 inches on a side, place the waxed paper with square of butter onto a baking sheet, and freeze for 15 minutes.
• Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface, turn the dough around to pick up flour on all sides, and sprinkle the dough with flour. Roll the dough out into a rectangle 18 inches square. Brush off excess flour from the dough, if necessary. Peel off the top layer of waxed paper from the butter square. Place the square of cold butter, remaining waxed-paper side up, catty-corner onto the dough rectangle so the corners of the dough extend out beyond the butter. Peel off the remaining waxed paper. Fold the top and bottom points over the butter, meeting in the middle; fold the left and right points over the butter. Pinch the sides and seams of the dough together to enclose the butter in the dough.
• Roll the flat dough envelope filled with butter, seam side down, out on the floured surface to a rectangle 12 by 24 inches, and fold the dough in half (into a 12x12 inch square), then in half again, to make a 6x12 inch square of dough with four butter layers. Chill the dough for about 5 minutes; then roll the dough out again to a 12 by 24-inch rectangle, and fold in quarters as before; chill, repeat rolling and folding the dough one more time. Refrigerate dough at least 1 more hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Cut the dough into two pieces (you will see buttery layers). On a well-floured surface, roll out a dough piece into a rectangle 30 by 9 inches; cut the rectangle into 3 long strips, 30 by 3 inches each. Mix almond filling, 1/2 cup of butter, and 1/2 cup of sugar together in a bowl, and spread half the filling mixture all down the center of the 3 strips. Fold the strips over the filling the long way and pinch the edges closed, enclosing the filling in 3 long ropes. Braid the 3 ropes together, and arrange the braid into a ring. Pinch the ends closed. Repeat for 2nd dough piece and remaining half of filling, making two ring-shaped braided pastries.
• Place the pastries onto the lined baking sheets, reforming into symmetrical rings if necessary. Set 3 hard-cooked Easter eggs, wedged between braids, into top of each braided pastry. Brush pastries, eggs and all, with beaten egg; sprinkle with additional white sugar and sliced almonds.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and crisp, 40 to 45 minutes.

BRAIDED ALMOND-CREAM WREATH (KRANZKUCHEN)

Steps:

• To make the dough:
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Then add the milk and egg and stir briefly. Add the butter and knead the dough briefly by hand in the bowl. Scrape it out onto a lightly floured work surface and continue to knead it for several minutes. You may need to add 1 to 2 additional tablespoons of flour, but resist the urge to add more; the dough should be quite soft and rich. You won't be able to knead it as long as other yeast doughs, but try to get it to a point where it's no longer too sticky and can be formed into a ball.
• Place the ball back in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean dishcloth and place in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour to rise.
• To make the filling:
• Place the raisins in a small bowl and add the rum and lemon juice. Set aside to macerate for 30 minutes.
• To assemble and bake:
• Heat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the almond paste, sugar, egg white, 1 tablespoon of milk, butter, and salt; knead together by hand until well combined. Knead in the raisins and their macerating liquid. The mixture should be creamy but will still hold its shape when spread. If necessary, mix in the remaining 1 tablespoon of milk. Set aside.
• When the proofing hour is up, gently tug the dough onto a work surface. Roll out the dough to a 13 by 16-inch/33 by 40cm rectangle. You can pull the edges out to form neat corners.
• Scrape the filling onto the dough and, using a bench scraper, spread the mixture out evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch/2.5cm border on one of the long sides. Starting from the other long side, roll up the dough. Using a sharp bench scraper, cut the roll of dough in half lengthwise, leaving about 1 inch/2.5cm at one end still attached. Working quickly, twist the 2 strands around each other all the way down the length of the roll. Then form the wrapped dough strands into a circle. Next, slice through the end that you left attached and tuck the end pieces at both ends underneath each other to make a neat closure.
• Transfer the wreath to the prepared pan (you may need someone to help you do this) and bake for 45 minutes at the second-lowest rack position, rotating halfway through. When finished, the loaf will be golden brown all over and should sound slightly hollow when tapped. It will still be quite soft.
• To make the glaze:
• Just before the end of the baking time, heat the apricot jam over medium-high heat until loose and bubbling. When the wreath emerges from the oven, immediately brush it all over with the hot jam. Place the pan on a rack to cool.
• When the wreath has almost fully cooled, sift the confectioners' sugar into a small bowl and whisk in the water. Whisk until smooth and lump-free. You want a thick but pourable glaze. Add more sugar or a drop more water as needed. Drizzle the glaze back and forth over the entire wreath. Wait 1 hour for the glaze to set and the cake to cool completely and then slice and serve. The cake is best eaten the day it is made, but it can be kept at room temperature, loosely wrapped in plastic wrap, for 2 additional days.

DANISH PASTRY BRAID

Steps:

• Quick Method Danish Pastry:
• Measure 3 1/2 cups flour into a bowl or work bowl of food processor with steel blade in place. Cut the butter into 1/4-inch slices and add to the flour. Process or cut the butter into the flour until the butter is about the size of kidney beans.
• In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the cream or milk, cardamom, salt, eggs, and sugar.
• Turn the flour-butter mixture into the liquid ingredients, and with a rubber spatula mix carefully just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours, overnight, or up to 4 days.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board; dust with flour. Pound and flatten to make a 16- to 20-inch rectangle. Fold into thirds, making 3 layers. Turn dough around and roll out again. Fold from the short sides into thirds. This should result in a perfect square. Repeat folding and rolling again if you wish.
• Wrap and chill the dough 30 minutes or as long as overnight.
• To make the Danish Pastry Braid:
• Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease and flour them.
• Divide the chilled dough into 2 parts. Roll each part out to make a rectangle 12 by 6 inches. Place these strips on the prepared baking sheets.
• To make the filling, cream the butter and sugar until light. Blend in the almond extract, almonds, almond paste, and egg white.
• Spread filling down the length of the center of the strips. Cut slanting strips at 3/4-inch intervals along both sides up toward the center using a pastry wheel. Fold strips over the filling in a crisscross manner
• Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
• Let strips rise for 15 to 30 minutes, just until the pastry strips look puffy; they will not double.
• To make a glaze, beat the egg with the milk or water. Brush the pastry lightly with it. Sprinkle the sugar and/or sliced almonds over the top.
• Bake about 15 minutes or until golden.
• Frost, if desired, with almond-water icing. Blend the sugar, water, and almond extract until smooth and thin enough to drizzle over the braids.