Swedish Tea Ring

Swedish Tea Ring
Makes 2 tea rings
Dough:
¼ Cup Warm water 105-115 degrees F.
1 Tbsp Dry yeast
1/3 Cup Sugar
5 ¾-6 ¼ Cup all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp salt
½ cup warm milk 105-115 F
1 cup sour cream
3 large eggs
Zest of 1 orange
1 stick unsalted butter room temp cut into small pieces

In a 5 qt mixer add the water, yeast and sugar, mix together and watch for bubbles. Once yeast mixture bubbles add 2 cups of flour and the remainder of the ingredients and mix until incorporated with the paddle attachment. Switch to the dough hook and add the remainder of the flour ½ cup at a time. Mix until the dough pulls away from the bowl. Put the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rise. Meanwhile prepare the filling.

Filling:

Zest of 1 orange
1 cup sugar
1 ¼ cup sliced almonds
1 ½ cups golden raisins
½ cup chopped candied orange peel* (recipe follows)

Rum Butter:
½ stick butter melted
1 tbsp. dark rum

To assemble:

Once the dough is proofed divide it in half. Roll the dough out into a rectangle like done for cinnamon rolls. Spread half of the rum butter all over the dough then sprinkle half of the filling evenly over the dough. Roll the dough up like a cinnamon roll but them form it into the shape of the letter “O”. Place it on parchment covered cookie sheet, tucking the ends of the “O” together. Using kitchen shears cut into the dough about 2/3’s of the way in all around the whole “O” turn the dough so it lays flat. At this point allow the tea ring to proof at room temperature or cover it and place in the refridgerator and pull it out in the morning and let it sit for about 20 minutes then bake it at 350 for about 20-30 minutes check for doneness.

While the tea ring is baking prepare the glaze.

Glaze:
½ cup orange juice
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Whisk all of the above ingredients together and spread over the tea ring immediately after it comes out of the oven. Let cool and enjoy.

Candied Orange Peel

6 thick skinned oranges
4 ½ Cups Sugar, plus extra for rolling
1 ½ cups water

Peel the skin off the oranges with a carrot peeler. Cut them into strips-thick or thin-depending what you would like.

The next step is done for removing the bitterness in the peel. Place the peel in saucepan with cold water, bring to boil. Let simmer for a few minutes then pull the peels out of the pan and put them into a bowl of ice water. Dump the hot water out and but fresh cold water in the pan and put the peels back in the pan and bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes then once again take them out and put them in ice water. Dump out the hot water and one last time add cold water and the peels and bring to a boil. Pull the peels out and set aside. Rinse the pan out and then add 4 ½ cups sugar and 1 ½ cups water then add the peels to this. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for about 45 minutes. In a separate bowl add some sugar and once the peels are done simmering add them to the sugar and toss.