Christopsomo

Introducing CHRISTOPSOMO for day 12 of the 12 days of Greekmas - aka Christ’s bread, traditionally made on Christmas Eve and decorated with a cross to symbolise protection and abundance. If you’ve never heard of it before, think of it like a giant, more aromatic version of the classic hot cross bun we all know and love…but 10x better.

Ingredients

550ml room temp water 

21g instant dry yeast 

100g sugar 

50ml olive oil 

50g honey

1kg bread flour 

2 tbsp anise 

1 tsp ground cinnamon 

1 tsp mahlebi 

1/2 tsp ground clove 

1 tsp salt 

150g walnuts, crushed 

150g raisins 

1 whole walnut in a shell preferably

Extra olive oil for proving and greasing the tin 

30g honey 

15ml hot water 

3 hours | Yields around 20 slices

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Method

1. In a large mixing bowl or standing mixer bowl, whisk the water, instant dry yeast and half the amount of sugar until frothy. 

2. Add the oil, honey, flour, remaining sugar, ground cinnamon and ground cloves to the wet mixture. Using a dough hook, knead for 8 minutes at medium to high speed. After 5 minutes, add the crushed walnuts, raisins, anise, and salt, and continue kneading for the remaining 3 minutes until the dough is smooth and firm. 

3. Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and  roll it into a ball, tucking in the edges. Grease the mixing bowl and transfer the dough back. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave it to rise for an hour.  

4. Once doubled in size, remove the dough and cut a quarter off. Set this part aside for the cross. 

5. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius fan. Line a 9 inch springform cake tin with parchment paper. Place the bigger dough ball in the cake tin, then prepare the cross by dividing the extra bit of dough in half, and cutting each half into three equal pieces. 

6. Roll each third piece into a log of about 10 inches. Once all 6 logs are prepared, take three and braid them. Place one braid horizontally and the other vertically to form the cross on top of the dough. In the centre of the cross, press the walnut down. Let the dough rest for another 30 minutes before brushing with the honey glaze.

7. Prepare the honey glaze by mixing hot water and honey. Brush the top of the dough with half the amount, saving the rest for when the bread is cooked. 

8. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour. For the first half an hour, bake the bread uncovered, then for the remaining duration, cover with foil. 

9. Allow the bread to cool fully before removing from the tin and slicing. Serve at room temperature or warmed up with butter.

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Watch how to make it