I was in the second grade when I learned I would never be able to spell.  The spelling list was given out on Monday and on Friday the teacher dictated the list for the test.  Every night I would spend forever studying those 20 words: read them, write them, my mother reading them & me writing them.  You know the drill.  Try as I would, I never did well. 

Then the glorious day came when I scored a zero.  I know most people dread the big O because it means another decade has passed but for me the big O always takes me back to that day I scored a zero and the teacher required me to walk up and down each isle in the classroom and show everybody I had a big O on my spelling test.  Just thinking about it today embarrasses me.  I never got another zero but I never got a hundred either.

Without spell check ... I’d never have a chance.  Without spell check, I’d have been able to tell you Striesel ... that doesn’t look right but I couldn’t have told you it’s mostly spelled streusel. 

In this case it’s spelled  Striesel because that’s the way our Kitchen of the Month Katie (ThymeforCooking) says the recipe is written.  So take that Miss Smarty Pants Spelling Teacher!  Check out Thyme for Cooking for the original recipe as the one below I’ve rewritten and put in just how I did it.

However you spell it, I can tell you this is a simple to mix and take from the oven heavenly smelling bread in just a few hours.

Viennese Striesel

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/4 cup very warm water

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup vanilla sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 cups flour

1/4 cup seedless raisins

1/4 cup candied cherries, chopped

2 tbs candied orange peel, chopped

1/8 tsp mace

1 egg

Scald milk. Put milk, sugar, shortening, salt in bowl. Cool until just warm.

Mix 2 cups flour with fruit and mace.

Mix 1 cup of flour with the yeast.

Mix yeasted 1 cup flour with liquid ingredients.

Whisk egg and add to dough. Add remaining flour with fruit and knead until smooth and satiny.  This tends to be sticky and I believe I added too much flour.  Next time I’ll try to add less by dusting only my hands with flour as I knead.

Shape into a ball, place in lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled, about 2 1/4 hours.

Punch down. Divide into 9 pieces, shape each into a ball and let rest 5 minutes.

Roll each piece into a rope about 15" long. Lay 4 strands on a lightly greased baking sheet, overlapping at the center. Braid from the center toward each end. With the side of your hand make a trench down the center. Now braid 3 strands, also from the center to each end, and place in the 'trench'. Twist the 2 remaining strands loosely together and place on top, bringing the ends over the end of the loaf and tucking in.

Cover loosely and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours. Bake, 350F (175C) for 40 - 45 minutes. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tbs milk

almonds or walnuts for sprinkling

Mix milk and sugar. When bread is cool, drizzle frosting over the top. Sprinkle with nuts.

I was thrilled to finally have a reason to open my little jar of mace.  Have you ever read up on mace?  It’s history and how it grows is really fascinating.  Wikiepedia has great info on it here.

We never got to the icing part.  It’s great toast and all gone now.  Need another for Christmas morning.

If you would like to join us being a Bread Baking Buddy here’s how:

1. * You have one week from our posting date to bake the bread and post about it on your blog with a link to the Kitchen of the Month’s post about the bread.
   

2. *E-mail the Kitchen of the Month with your name and a link to your post  OR leave a comment on the Kitchen of the Month’s blog that you have baked the bread and a link back to your post.
   

3. *Kitchen of the Month will do a round-up of our Bread Baking Buddies at the end of the week and send you a BBB badge for that month’s bread.
   

4. *No blog, No problem - just e-mail the Kitchen of the Month with a photo of the bread you baked and you’ll be included in the round-up.
   

Remember our Kitchen of the Month is Katie (ThymeforCooking).  The Buddy posting date is the 21st December, Monday next.  And you can check out the other Babes on my side bar.

This goes to Susan at WildYeast for her weekly Yeast Spotting.  I’ve come to look at the weekly Yeast Spotting as a delightful trip to a Bakery Wonderland!  If you’re not familiar with Susan and Yeast Spotting, it’s explained here.

Hope your holidays are merry and bright and all your wishes come true.

Merry Christmas to all ...