GREEK mom COOKS.com

Homemade Christopsomo

Homemade Christmas bread

Homemade Christopsomo

The Christopsomo is one of the most beautiful Greek traditions of Christmas. There are several variations of the Christopsomo in addition to a basic bread ingredients (flour, water, yeast) are added to a dough a combination of ingredients such as honey, cinnamon, sesame seeds, rose water, anise, pine nuts, walnuts, almonds, gum or machlepi.

On Christmas day, the landlord takes the Christopsomo, he crossed it 3 times, he cuts it and divides it to those who attended the Christmas table.

Ingredients

  • 1kgr all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water
  • 35gr fresh yeast
  • 1.5 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup orange zest
  • 1 cup lemon zest
  • 1 cup walnuts (chopped)
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of mastic (powder)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon cloves
  • sesame seeds and walnuts (whole in shell) for decoration

Method

  1. In a large bowl, add water and dissolve the yeast.
  2. Add the flour and knead well until dough is soft.
  3. Then add all remaining ingredients and knead well until homogenized.
  4. Cover the dough and let rise in warm place (1.5 hour).
  5. Keep some of the dough for decoration and lubricate a large baking pan and pour the remaining dough.
  6. With the dough you kept make a strip and create a cross or another Christmas element on top.
  7. With a scissors cut slightly the decoration strip on top of the dough.
  8. Decorate with the whole walnuts, sprinkle some sesame seeds and bake in preheated oven at 200oC for 1h and 15 minutes until golden brown.
Tips:

You can also use the Homemade bread with sourdough starter or Quick homemade bread and just decorate it on top with whole walnuts, sesame seeds or dough decorations.

more recipes...