Whole Wheat Bread Spirals

From the time I first saw this bread in a picture I have wanted to try it. I thought it looked very pretty. This is another bread inspired by Valentina Zurkan. It looks a lot prettier when you use white flour or bread flour. But I rarely bake anything with just white flour these days so I used a substantial amount of white whole wheat flour and went easy on the butter. It may not brown as well with whole wheat flour but I think it looks a lot healthier and tasted great.

This week I am posting recipes that are fun to bake. Play with the dough and get a beautifully shaped bread. For this bread I used layers separated with a filling. The filling keeps the layers separate even after baking. Simple cuts and twists make the bread look dainty and pretty.

It was an afternoon well spent. It would be a great project with kids as the twisting is very forgiving. You can use any filling you like, savory or sweet.

You will need
1 3/4 cup whole white wheat flour
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tbsp. olive oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
1 tsp. Instant yeast
2 tbsp. water
1/2 cup milk

For the wash
1 tsp. butter melted

Between the layers ( double if you want it really sweet)
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. cinnamon powder
3 tbsp. sugar

Sift the flours and add it with the other dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the wet ingredients. Combine and form a soft dough. Cover and keep it aside until it doubles in volume, about an hour an a half.

Flour a working surface and transfer the dough on it. Divide it into 4 portions and roll each portion into a disc about a forth of an inch thick. In a small bowl mix the ingredients for the filling. Spread a third of it on one of the discs. Place another second disc over it. Spread half the remaining filling on this layer. Place another layer on it. Spread the remaining filling over it and place the last layer over it. Roll gently with the rolling pin. Then cut it as shown in the picture below.

Pick up all four layers of one of the triangles as shown below. Now twist it in one direction several times and place it back.

Repeat with all the other triangles.

Brush the top with melted butter. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Meantime preheat the oven at 425 F.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until the top starts to brown. This is whole bread bread so it will not brown like all purpose flour.

Enjoy with a cup tea!