Sunflower Bread

Sunflower Bread – a delicious bread that’s shaped to look like a sunflower, sprinkled with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. Gorgeous!

I was so in the mood for baking this weekend, so as usual I go on youtube and look at videos of making all kinds of foreign pastries and breads and what not. So I came across this video in Italian, which I didn’t understand much, so I watched it over and over. It’s pretty long too and at first I wasn’t sure what they were making but when I saw the final result I was so intrigued, I immediately went to my pantry and pulled out all the ingredients to make this lovely bread. I got the exact recipe ingredients from a Romanian website, which I translated myself.

Now I won’t lie to you, this bread is quite labor intensive, but it is a labor of love. When I am baking bread, I truly am in my element, it’s relaxing, it’s therapeutic, it’s just comforting for me. So I didn’t mind all the rolling and work required that went into this sunflower look-alike bread. Just as with my watermelon look-alike bread this was fun to do, and the end result simply gorgeous.

So let’s get started. I used a 14 inch pizza pan here which I lined with parchment paper. The dough is a pretty basic bread dough recipe with milk which you need to let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. I used my Kitchenaid mixer with a dough hook attachment, so no kneading required if you use that. Once the dough is doubled, you need to cut it in 2 equal pieces. I didn’t need to add flour to my work counter because the dough was still a bit oily and my counter is granite so it didn’t stick, however feel free to add flour to your counter to avoid sticking. I also used a kitchen scale to measure the two pieces and make sure they’re equal in weight. Cover one piece with your damp kitchen towel, and for now we’re just working with one of the pieces which you need to cut it into 5 equal pieces and shape them into balls.

Roll out each ball piece so that it’s about 8 1/2 to 9 inches in diameter. Brush each piece with the melted butter, and stack all the pieces, and do not brush the last piece with butter. Also I rolled out the last piece a little bit bigger so that it was about 10 inches in diameter, this way I can cover the edges with it, as you see below.

Place the stack in the middle of the prepared pizza pan. Using a sharp knife cut the stack into 8 slices, but not all the way through the end, leave about an inch from the end. Make sure you cut all the way down, if it’s easier use scissors. Next pull out and over each slice, as see below. It’s already beginning to look like a flower.

Now we work with the last piece of dough. First you need to cut 1/4 of it and roll this piece into a ball. This piece will be the center of the sunflower. Set this piece aside. Cut the remaining dough into 5 equal parts and shape each one into a ball. You should have 6 balls, one bigger than the other 5. Working with the 5 balls, again repeat the previous process. Roll each one, but now they only need to be 5 1/2 inches in diameter and as you roll each one, brush it with butter. Again stack them on top of each other, and the last piece roll it out so that it’s a bit bigger than the other 4, and place it on top of the stack covering the sides of the stack. Take this stack and place it in the middle of the pizza pan. It should fit nicely in the middle of the other dough.

Same thing again, cut it into 8 equal slice, just make sure you now start to slice in the middle of the other pedals, so that these pedals fit between the bigger ones. Again pull out each slice and secure it in between 2 of the bigger petals. Place the last ball in the center. That was it, that was the hardest part of this whole business. Cover this with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise again until doubled in size, about 30 minutes should do it. Brush it with the egg wash, then sprinkle the center with poppy seeds and the pedals with sesame seeds.

I baked mine in a preheat oven at 350 F degrees for about 35 minutes and then you end up with this beauty. It’s so much fun to eat, just pull apart at the petals and enjoy. Super yummy!

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Sunflower Bread

4.6 from 5 votes

Prep: 1 hr

Cook: 35 mins

Total: 1 hr 35 mins

Author: Joanna Cismaru

Serves: 18

Print Pin Rate

Sunflower Bread - a delicious bread that's shaped to look like a sunflower, sprinkled with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. Gorgeous!

Ingredients

For Bread

• 4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (2 pkgs or 15 grams)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup water warm
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup warm milk (250 ml)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (125 ml)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp salt

Other

• 8 tbsp butter melted (1 stick)
• 1 egg beaten (for brushing on top)
• sesame seeds and poppy seeds (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Activate the yeast first by adding it to a bowl, then add the sugar and the 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir a bit then let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes or until it bubbles up. Add this to the bowl of your mixer.
• Add the remaining ingredients for the bread, flour, milk, eggs and oil and using the hook attachment, mix for about 5 minutes, the sides of your bowl should be clean. If the mixture is too dry, add a bit more warm water, if it's too sticky add a bit more flour. The dough should be soft. Form the dough into a ball and place it in a oiled bowl, cover with clean damp kitchen towel, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.
• You'll need a round pan, at least 14 inch in diameter, line with parchment paper and set aside.
• Cut the dough in 2 equal pieces, use a kitchen scale if necessary. Cover one of the pieces with damp kitchen towel, and set aside.
• Cut the one piece of dough into 5 equal pieces, use a kitchen scale if necessary, and shape each piece into a ball. Roll out each piece so that it's about 8 1/2 inches to 9 inches in diameter. Brush each piece with the melted butter, and stack all the rolled out pieces, do not brush the last piece with butter. Also I rolled out the last piece so that it was about 10 inches in diameter, so that I can cover the edges with it.
• Place the stack in the middle of the prepared pizza pan. Using a sharp knife cut the stack into 8 slices, but not all the way through the end, leave about an inch from the end. Make sure you cut all the way down, if it’s easier use scissors. Next pull out and over each slice.
• Take the last piece of dough and cut out 1/4 of it, shape it into a ball and set it aside. Take remaining dough and cut into 5 equal pieces, shape each into a ball. Roll each one, but now they only need to be 5 1/2 inches in diameter and as you roll each one, brush it with butter. Again stack them on top of each other, and the last piece roll it out so that it’s a bit bigger than the other 4, and place it on top of the stack covering the sides of the stack. Take this stack and place it in the middle of the pizza pan. It should fit nicely in the middle of the other dough.
• Cut it into 8 equal slice, just make sure you now start to slice in the middle of the other pedals, so that these pedals fit between the bigger ones. Again pull out each slice and secure it in between 2 of the bigger petals. Place the last ball in the center. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
• Brush with egg wash and sprinkle some poppy seeds on the middle ball, and sesame seeds on the petals.
• Bake for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

Recipe Notes

Total time does not include time required to let the dough rise.

 

Always check the expiration date on your yeast and make sure it hasn't expired. All your yeast products whether it’s in a jar or a package should be stamped with a “Best if Used by” date. Always make sure you check this date, even when you purchase the yeast, who knows it could have been on the shelf past its expiry date.

To keep your yeast fresh and longer lasting, unopened yeast packages or jars should be stored in a cool or dry place such as your cupboard. However, you can also store your yeast in the fridge or freezer. If you do store it in the freezer and need to use yeast for your baking, make sure you take out the amount you need and let it sit at room temperature for at least half hour before using.

Once your yeast package or jar has been opened, you must refrigerate the yeast or freeze it in an airtight container.

One thing to remember about your yeast, is that it is a living organism and over time it will lose activity, even if you’ve never opened the jar or package. So if you don’t bake often, buy the smaller yeast packages rather than a big jar of yeast.

 

Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 73gCalories: 247kcal (12%)Carbohydrates: 28g (9%)Protein: 5g (10%)Fat: 13g (20%)Saturated Fat: 9g (56%)Cholesterol: 42mg (14%)Sodium: 277mg (12%)Potassium: 75mg (2%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 219IU (4%)Calcium: 26mg (3%)Iron: 2mg (11%)

Course:Bread

Cuisine:American

Keyword:bread, bread recipe

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What you’ll need:

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