Christopsomo (Traditional Greek Christmas Bread) a delicious and festive Christmas sweet bread. This is a sweet and spicy bread for religious festivals. At Christmas it is decorated with a cross and known as “Christ’s bread”. It is baked the day before Christmas and made with special care to bring blessings to the home. The bread is cut on Christmas Day by the head of the househols before dinner. And is served in the hopes of a healthy and prosperous new year. Dough in the shape of a cross decorates the bread, along with other items of choice such as whole walnuts or sesame seeds. A mixture of water and honey are brushed on the bread before baking to serve as a glaze.
You are really missing out if you haven’t experienced Christopsomo, or Greek Christmas bread! Soft, airy, with a lovely crust and distinct flavor. The beauty of this is that there is great flexibility in what the bread may contain. You can choose from raisins and walnuts and dried fruit. You have to try this recipe for Christopsomo; it has a spritual meaning on a very special day.
The day before Christmas is often when Greek Christmas bread is made and served at the holiday meal. Since it’s claimed that a knife should never be used, the householder cuts the bread by hand.
Nuts And Spices For The Christopsomo
The three aromatic spices, mastic, cloves and anise, that are employed in this classic Christopsomo recipe give Greek Christmas bread its rich and unique flavor. The scent of the spices fills the home after they are placed in the oven, bringing back fond Christmas memories.
Feel free to add raisins, nutmeg, cinnamon or cognac, depending on your preference, as there are numerous ways to prepare this classic Greek Christopsomo dish.
How To Prepare For Christopsomo
Cooking Christopsomo (Traditional Greek Christmas Bread) at home can be difficult, but as my experience has taught me, it all comes down to using the correct recipe. This comprehensive recipe for Christopsomo (including with preparation images) guarantees success even on your first try!
Furthermore, the yeast requires a certain amount of time to activate. Give the water-yeast combination roughly 30 minutes to settle before adding the remaining ingredients. When it begins to bubble, the yeast is active. In order to prevent the yeast from being “killed,” be sure to add the salt last.
You shouldn’t include the chopped walnuts and rasins with the other ingredients. These should be added separately once the dough is done in order to achieve the greatest texture in your Christopsomo. Taking care to add these items last is highly recommended.
Ultimately, if you allow the dough for the Christopsomo enough time to rise, its fluff will be your reward. Use robust bread flour for this Christopsomo recipe as it has elastic toughness and keeps its shape effectively when baked.
Add 2 tablespoon of honey that has been dissolved in hot water to your Greek Christmas bread and sprinkle sesame seeds on top for an incredible glossy finish! Cheers to a Merry Christmas!
Greek christmas bread
Ingredients
STARTER DOUGH
- 25 gr fresh yeast
- 100 gr bread flour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 110 gr lukewarm water
FOR THE BREAD
- 400 gr hard flour
- 100 gr sugar
- 35 gr olive oil
- 1,5 gr mastic ground
- 1/8 tsp clove ground
- 1/2 tsp anise ground or seed
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 150 gr orange juice
- 100 gr walnuts chopped
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1 cup dried fruit, small pieces optional
FOR THE BRAID DECORATION
- 120 gr luke warm water
- 20 gr olive oil
- 250 gr all purpose flour
- 5 whole walnut with shell
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 egg for the brushing
FOR THE GLAZE
- 1 1/2 tbsp honey
- 30 gr water
Instructions
Prepare the yeast
- Place the yeast along with the warm water, 1 tbsp of sugar and the flour in a bowl. Mix well to dissolve the fresh yeast and sugar.
- Cover bowl with membrane and put in the oven. We need a bit of warmth to activate the yeast. Turn on the oven to 100 c and count for 30-40 seconds, then shut it off completely. This will alllow the yeast to rise.
Making the bread
- While waiting for the yeast to rise, grind the mastic with all the spices and sugar in a food processor. Pour them into the flour.
- Sift the flour mixture into the bowl of a mixer. This is to add air to the flour, the result will be nice. Add the yeast mixture to the bowl along with olive oil and the lukewarm orange juice. Knead with the mixer for 15 minutes at low speed.
- Once it is well kneaded, close the mixer. Add in the walnuts and raisins and knead them in by hand. Cover the bowl with membrane. We turn our oven into a proofing box, and we let our dough rise for 1-2 hours.
Preparing the braid decoration
- While the dough is rising, go ahead and make the 2nd dough for the decoration and in a bowl add the all purpose flour, sugar, olive oil and water and mix until it becomes a dough. After it is done, wrap it with membrane and set aside.
Prepare for baking the bread
- After 2 hours, take a 30 cm round pan and grease the bottom and sides with olive oil. Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit in the bottom of the pan, then oil it. This will allow for very easy removal once bread is cooked..
- Take the dough, place into the greased pan, and shape it to fit the pan.
- Prepare the braid to make the cross. Split up the braid dough into six pieces, roll it out into thin strips and make a 2 long braids. Use the braid to make a cross on top of the bread before baking. These will not have any glaze on top.
- We decorate in any way we desire. Here, we are following an old tradition by placeing a whole walnut the the four stations of the cross and in the middle. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.
- When dough has swollen to the point it is ready to bake, glaze the bread without placing any glaze on the cross. Sprinkle glazed area with sesame seeds.
- Bake it in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 180c. After it is cooked, let it cool down for a while. To release moisture from the bottom, flip the pan over and remove the bread. Place bread on a wire rack.
