FESTIVE BREAD WREATH WITH GRUYERE CHEESE DIP
By: Lee Hollis-Richards
Published: Tuesday, December 17, 2019 - 2:05am

Ingredients




Gruyere Cheese Dip
130g Gruyere cheese, grated
130g light creme fraise
20g light mayo
160g artichoke hearts (I used an antipasti section marinated in oil), drained and roughly chopped.
30g baby spinach, finely shredded
15g curly kale, finely shredded
Pinch of pepper
Pinch of Cayenne pepper
Festive Bread Wreath
500g strong bread flour, plus a little extra for dusting
7g fast acting yeast
300ml tepid water
30ml olive oil, plus extra for rolling
10g runny honey
1 tsp fine sea salt

Preparation

1 Preheat the oven to 220C, 200 fan, Gas mark 6. 2 Pop all the bread ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer. Roughly mix the ingredients together with a spoon. Attach the dough hook and knead on a low speed for 5 minutes, until you have a soft, smooth and stretchy dough. 3 Cover the bowl with cling film and leave in a warm place for an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size. 4 When the dough is ready, tip it onto a lightly oiled surface. Knock the dough back by punching it flat. 5 Cut the dough into three equal pieces. Use the palm of your hands to roll the dough into three uniform strips. The strips should be slightly longer than the circular dish you are using for the cheese dip. 6 Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Lightly flour the baking paper and place a circular ovenproof dish in the centre. Plat the three strips of dough. Carefully lift the platted dough and wrap around the dish. Cut off any overlapping dough and match up the two ends. You want a continuous circle of platted dough. Don’t worry if the joint looks a bit messy, the dough will rise and fuse together. 7 Cover the dough with an oiled piece of cling film. Place in a warm place for 30-40 minutes until it has doubled in size. 8 Meanwhile mix 100g of the Gruyere Cheese with the rest of the cheese dip ingredients together in a bowl. Tip the cheese mixture into the oven proof dish and sprinkle with the remaining Gruyere cheese. 9 When the dough has doubled in size lightly dust with flour. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the dough is golden and sounds hollow when tapped. 10 This is best served straight away.

About

My rich and creamy Festive Bread Wreath with Gruyere Cheese Dip is the perfect centre piece for your Christmas gathering this year.
The flavours from the creamy gruyere cheese and nutty artichoke hearts, when roasted into a bubbling molten dip are insane. Having a freshly baked bread, that’s soft and fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside, to tear and dunk is mind blowing!