Pizza Chrysanthemum Bread with Spelt

The Bread Baking Babes traveled to Georgia (not the state in Southern, USA, but the country between Russia and Turkey), to make Russian Pizza Chrysanthemum Bread for November.

Lien of Notitie Van Lien, the host kitchen this month, told us it would be a stunning-looking loaf if done right.  I must say I was a little bit intimidated when I saw a photo of the finished bread.  I thought, “What happens if we do it wrong?”

The traditional Georgian Bread includes a savory filling of beef, onion, spices, and cheese, but we had the option of using the filling of our choice. Lien said to make sure we didn’t skimp on the filling because that is what makes the bread.

I decided to make a pepperoni version that my son would enjoy. My dough is made with all-purpose spelt instead of regular white flour and filled with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese.  My loaf is a bit small because I baked it in a 9.5″ Pyrex pie dish. If you have a larger pie pan, it will hold more dough. As it was, I made one Chrysanthemum Bread out of two of the dough balls and saved the other dough ball for another bread on another night.

I enjoyed this pull-apart bread as an appetizer before dinner. It tastes great warm, but I also enjoyed it after it had completely cooled. I think it would make a great appetizer for Holiday gatherings. Guests could just pull off a bite-sized portion and dip it in marina sauce for added flavor although I enjoyed it “as is”.  For a variation on a theme, my son and I decided it would make great garlic cheese bread. Just fill the petals with cheese and garlic, then serve garlic butter on the side.  I’m seeing another loaf in my future.

I understand now what Lien meant about not skimping on the filling.  This pie could use more filling, but the soft and fluffy bread tastes great!  My son liked it so much, he ate half of the loaf in one sitting.

The best part about this bread is that it can be prepared in the afternoon to serve the same day. The dough is easy to work with and doesn’t take long to rise.

Rolling out, filling, and forming all of the petals does take a little bit of time, but it’s worth the effort.  What you end up with is a fluffy and light bread filled with yummy goodness.  I think this one is a keeper.

Pizza Chrysanthemum Bread with Spelt

---

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

No reviews

• Author: adapted from: http://www.stranamam.ru/post/8536219
• Yield: One Large Loaf or Two Smaller Loaves

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

This Pizza Chrysanthemum Bread is a savory pull-a-part bread shaped like a flower. The dough is made with spelt and filled with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese.

---

Ingredients

Units MUS Scale 1x2x3x

Filling:

• Pizza Sauce
• Pepperoni (I used the tiny pepperoni bits)
• Mozzarella (or other) Cheese

Dough:

• 500 grams all-purpose spelt flour
• 7 grams instant yeast
• 125 ml milk, lukewarm
• 125 ml kefir or yogurt
• 1 TBsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 90 ml olive oil

Glaze:

• 1 TBsp milk
• 1 egg yolk

also needed:

• 1 round cookie cutter or glass (I used a 2″ biscuit cutter)
• large shallow pie dish 28 cm in diameter (I used a 9.5″ Pyrex pie dish)

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

Making the dough:

1. Stir the dry ingredients (flour, yeast, salt, sugar) together in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large bowl if mixing by hand.
2. Whisk together the lukewarm milk with the kefir, egg, and oil.
3. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix on low speed or use a Danish dough whisk to incorporate the dough. Keep in mind, when working with Spelt, you don’t want to overmix the dough.
4. Shape the dough into a ball and let rest in a lightly greased bowl, covered with plastic. Let the dough rise for about an hour or until doubled.
5. Uncover the bowl and fold the dough after 20 minutes. Cover again and let it rise until it is doubled in size.

Shaping the Loaf

1. Lightly grease your pie dish.
2. Work with about ⅓ of the dough at the time. Roll it out to a thickness of about 1/4-inch. Cut out rounds with a glass or cookie cutter. Spread a little bit of sauce on each round, add some of the mini pepperonis, and sprinkle with cheese. Fold the circle in half, and fold the two points together. It now looks like a petal. Place in the pie dish, starting around the border with the point of the petal facing to the center. Repeat until there is just a little space left in the middle. Make three slightly smaller circles, fill and fold as the others, and place them in the middle. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let it rise for about 45 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
4. Whisk egg yolk and milk for the glaze and brush the bread with it. Place the loaf in the oven on a rack and bake for 25 minutes. Lower the temperature to 325 degrees F. and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden.
5. When the loaf is done, take it out of the oven and the pie pan, and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Let cool or eat lukewarm.

• Category: Pull-A-Part Bread

Lien is the host kitchen for November for the Bread Baking Babes and she chose this Russian Chrysanthemum Bread as the monthly bake. Details on how to participate in this month’s bake can be found on Lien’s post. She also includes some ideas for the traditional as well as other fillings so be sure to check out her post. To view other photos of the shaping of this bread, check out the original post in Russian.

Happy Baking!

Cathy

For more tips and ideas for making this bread, check out the posts from the other Bread Baking Babes:

• Bake My Day – Karen
• blog from OUR kitchen – Elizabeth
• Bread Experience – Cathy
• Feeding my Enthusiasms – Pat/Elle
• All Roads Lead to the Kitchen – Heather
• Life’s a Feast – Jamie
• Ilva Beretta Blog – Ilva
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna
• My Kitchen In Half Cups – Tanna
• Notitie Van Lien – Lien
• Thyme for Cooking – Katie (Bitchin’ Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire)
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy