This Holiday cake is a rich fluffy dough, filled with tart cranberry filling and drizzled with icing. Not only is it tasty but it is a show stopper. Make this Cranberry Christmas Star a new family tradition. If you love this bread, you need to try the Christmas Tree Pesto Bread recipe as well!
If you’re new to fresh milled flour or unsure what this is, here is some more information to help you get started!
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Table of Contents
Equipment needed to make this Cranberry Christmas Star
- Grain Mill
- Stand Mixer
- Digital Scale
- Measuring spoons
- Measuring cups
- Sharp pairing knife
- Sifter
- Rubber Spatula
- Small offset spatula
- Parchment Paper
- Blender/Small food processor
- Small Sauce Pan
- Pastry Brush
- Cake icing spatula, small offset spatula and bowl scraper or dough blade.
- 2 1/2″ round cup
Everything listed above cane be found on the “Shop My Kitchen” page!
Ingredients for the Cranberry Christmas Star
Yeast Dough
- Hard White Wheat Berries & Khorasan (Kamut Wheat)-You can use any variety here. We like this ratio of hard to soft grains. It provides the structure needed but softens the texture and provides great flavor.
- Yeast-Instant
- Honey-You can substitute maple syrup
- Salt–Redmond’s Real salt is all I use!
- Milk
- Butter
Cranberry Filling
- Fresh cranberries
- Sugar
- Orange zest and juice
- Cinnamon
Icing
- Heavy Cream-can substitute milk
- Vanilla Extract
How to make the Cranberry Christmas Star
Yeast Dough
- Mill your hard white wheat and Khorasan wheat berries into flour.
- Place your milk, butter and honey in a small saucepan on the stove to warm. Heat just until your butter is melted.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour, salt and warm liquid. Mix just until all flour is moistened. Let autolyse for 20 minutes.
- After the 20 minute autolyse, add the yeast to your bowl and begin mixing. If using the Ankarsrum mixer, fit with the roller and scraper. You can use the dough hook on other style stand mixers.
- Mix for 6-8 minutes until the dough begins to pull away from the sides and form a ball.
- Cover and proof for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- While the dough proofs, start your Cranberry filling.
Cranberry Filling
- Add cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon and sugar to a small saucepan on the stove.
- Cook on low-medium heat 6-8 minutes. While cooking, use a fork to smash the raspberries and stir the mixture.
- Do not overcook or you will caramelize your sugar and it will be candied and sticky.
- Pour the mixture into a small food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Place in the refrigerator to cool completely before filling the Star bread.
Making the Cranberry Christmas Star
- After the dough has risen for 1 hour, it is time to roll it out.
- Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces. Between parchment, roll out into a large circle. Mine went to the edge of the long side on my pre-cut pieces of parchment paper. They just all need to be the same size.
- Roll all 4 pieces of dough out into circles the same size.
- Place one piece of dough onto a sheet pan lined with parchment. Spread 1/3 of the cranberry filling on the dough with a small offset spatula. Leave 1/2″ around the edge of the dough.
- Top with another circle of dough, pressing it out around the edges until the circles line up.
- Repeat this step with the other 2 pieces. When complete, you will have 4 layers of dough and 3 layers of filling.
- Once your dough is all stacked, place a glass in the center with a 2 1/2″-3″ diameter.
- Taking a VERY sharp pairing knife, cut your dough into 16 even strips.
9. Once your dough strips are cut, start with 2 strips and twist inward like the photo above. I twisted mine 3 times each. Once twisted, pinch the two pieces together at the ends with the pinched dough resting vertically on the pan.
10. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise one more time for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F while it rises.
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.
12. While it cools, make your icing.
Icing
- Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. You can also mix this by hand in a bowl.
- Whisk cream and vanilla into the powdered sugar until smooth.
- Drizzle over the warm Cranberry Christmas Star, and enjoy!
- Dust the entire Star with powdered sugar. I also sprinkled a few chopped cranberries and added some sprigs of fresh rosemary around the edges for garnish.
- HERE is a video of how I made this Cranberry Christmas Star, but use your creativity here!
Cranberry Christmas Star
Equipment
- Sauce Pan
- Sharp Pairing Knife
- Food Processor or Blender
Ingredients
Yeast Dough
- 700 grams Hard White Wheat
- 220 grams Khorasan (Kamut) Can sub other soft grain
- 4 tsp instant yeast
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 708 g milk 3 cups
- 1 Tbsp salt
Cranberry Filling
- 2 cups Fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup sugar, granulated
- 1 small orange, juiced and zested
- 1 tsp cinnamon
Icing
- 2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 3 Tbsp heavy cream can sub milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Garnishes
- Powdered sugar for dusting
- Chopped cranberries optional
- Fresh Rosemary Sprigs optional
Instructions
Yeast Dough
- Mill your hard white and Khorasan (Kamut) wheat berries into flour.
- Place your milk, butter and honey in a small saucepan on the stove to warm. Heat just until your butter is melted.Place your milk, butter and honey in a small saucepan on the stove to warm. Heat just until your butter is melted.
- Mix for 6-8 minutes until the dough begins to pull away from the sides and form a ball.
- Cover and proof for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
- While the dough proofs, start your Cranberry filling.
Cranberry Filling
- Add cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, cinnamon and sugar to a small saucepan on the stove.
- Cook on low-medium heat 6-8 minutes. While cooking, use a fork to smash the raspberries and stir the mixture.
- Do not overcook or you will caramelize your sugar and it will be candied and sticky.
- Pour the mixture into a small food processor or blender and blend until completely smooth.
- Place in the refrigerator to cool completely before filling the Star bread.
Making the Cranberry Christmas Star
- After the dough has risen for 1 hour, it is time to roll it out.
- Roll all 4 pieces of dough out into circles the same size.
- Top with another circle of dough, pressing it out around the edges until the circles line up.
- Repeat this step with the other 2 pieces. When complete, you will have 4 layers of dough and 3 layers of filling.
- Once your dough is all stacked, place a glass in the center with a 2 1/2"-3" diameter.
- Taking a VERY sharp pairing knife, cut your dough into 16 even strips.
- Once your dough strips are cut, start with 2 strips and twist inward like the photo above. I twisted mine 3 times each. Once twisted, pinch the two pieces together at the ends with the pinched dough resting vertically on the pan.
- Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise one more time for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 F while it rises.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.
- While it cools, make your icing.
Icing
- Sift 2 cups of powdered sugar into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk. You can also mix this by hand in a bowl.
- Whisk cream and vanilla into the powdered sugar until smooth.
- Drizzle over the warm Cranberry Christmas Star, and enjoy!
- Dust entire Star with powdered sugar. I also added few chopped cranberries and added some sprigs of fresh rosemary around the edges for garnish.
Video
Nutrition
Frequently asked questions about the Cranberry Christmas Star
What if I can’t twist each piece 3 times without my dough tearing?
As long as you twist it at least 2 times each, you will achieve the pretty star look.
My dough is sticky as I am rolling it out, what can I do?
If you add a piece of parchment to the top and bottom and sandwich the dough between, it will help you roll it out.
How thick do I need my dough?
It should be between 1/4-1/3 of an inch thick. You want it to be as large as possible but still fit on your cookie sheet. I have very large sheet pans. The Parchment paper is 12″ wide, so I go to the edge of that with my dough rounds. You do not want your dough too thick or you will not get that pretty layered look.
Tips and Tricks:
Keep your dough thin, it looks prettier!
Use a small offset spatula to spread out your cranberry filling, it will help keep it all the same thickness.
Here are some other Christmas desserts!
Fig Cake with Brown Butter Icing
THANK YOU!
Thank you so much for trying this recipe, I hope you love this Cranberry Christmas Star as much as my family does. If you make this recipe, please share and tag me on Instagram or Facebook! And, please leave a comment or star rating below. I love to see everyone be successful in the journey to a healthier lifestyle with fresh milled flour! Don’t hesitate to contact me with any question, chances are we will both learn something from us working through it together!
Happy Baking!
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My kids loved helping with this and it was was actually easier than I expected!