Baking holiday sweet breads.?

Question

I was wondering, if I wanted to bake many loafs of sweet bread early for Christmas gifts, will they taste okay when thawed out? Will you be able to tell if they were frozen?

Answer 1

ITALIAN SWEET BREAD:

1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, cubed
1 cup raisins
2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
4 eggs
6 teaspoons anise extract
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped red and green candied cherries
8 cups all-purpose flour

ICING:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
4 teaspoons milk

In a saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; cool to 110° to 115°.
In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the cooled butter mixture, eggs, extracts, nuts and cherries; mix well. Add enough flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch dough down; divide into thirds. Shape each portion into an oval loaf; place in three greased and floured 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. baking pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly. Remove from pan to wire racks to cool.
Combine icing ingredients; drizzle over cooled loaves. Yield: 3 dozen.
http://recipes.tasteofhome.com/eRMS/recp.aspx?recid=22605

Christmas Bread Recipes
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmas-bread-recipes/index.htm
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmas-bread-recipes/bread-recipes-1.htm
12 Days of Christmas Bread
http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmastwo/bread.htm

Answer 2

Cranberry-Sweet Potato Quick Bread:

I make this bread year-round, but it's best at Christmas because of the cranberries. This makes a lovely gift wrapped in colorful cellophane and decorated with ribbon.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup no-sugar-added canned mashed sweet potato
3/4 cup egg substitute
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1 cup chopped cranberries
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine sweet potato, egg substitute, orange juice, and margarine in a bowl; add to dry ingredients. Stir just until moist. Fold in cranberries.

Spoon batter into a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle almonds over batter. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Let cool completely on wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Answer 3

Bake one now, and try it in a week. If its good, you can do that with 10 or 20 loaves next week, just in time for the holidays.

Also, make sure you clean out the freezer first. Dont want old food smells or flavors.

Answer 4

Check this site out it gives you 134 holiday sweet bread recipes:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/find/results?search=holiday+sweet+breads

Hope you can find the ones you want.

Answer 5

they taste just as good as when they were first made..when i make them for friends and family, it takes way too long to make over 15 in one day, so as i make them, i freeze them and when i give them out, no one knows the difference..even me..just when you freeze them, make sure they are double wrapped, plastic wrap then in a freezer bag..it keeps the air out and the moisture in..