Savoury Pull-Apart Star Bread

A savoury, pull-apart star bread, stuffed with pesto, sundried tomatoes and goat’s cheese – a perfect celebratory brunch treat to share with friends

Happy new year, peoples!

This is the fifth year I started the new year in my kitchen making bread.

A comforting ritual that was inspired by Nigel Slater’s writing and recipes, it’s a gentle way to begin the year – which was much needed given the mess that was 2020.

This year I wanted to make a savoury version of the beautifully twisted star breads I’ve been seeing all over social media. I figured it’d be a good place to start before I learn how to braid other types of loaves.

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I prepped the dough in the morning, went out to lunch with some lovely friends, and came home to braid and bake the bread, while chatting with some other friends on the other side of the world.

Star Bread or Snowflake Bread?

I spent a couple of days trying to find the history of star bread, also known as snowflake bread. Sometimes even called Swedish star bread, but not to be confused with putok star bread from the Philippines. I even asked a Swedish friend, and they could find no connection to Sweden either.

So, if you happen to know how star bread, snowflake bread, Christmas bread or flower bread came to be, please let me know!

How to Make Star Bread

These twisted pull-apart breads look pretty and impressive, but they’re actually so easy to make. You just need some time and patience to let the dough rise.

So, yes, this star bread uses yeast. And, no, that’s not a reason to not try it out.

• Activate: The yeast just needs some warmth and a little time. Heat the butter and milk until hot to the touch but not boiling. For those who want to use their thermometer, it should be between 43°C and 45° Add the yeast, give it a stir, cover it with a plate and set it aside until frothy, around 10 minutes. That’s it!

• Mix and knead: Let your stand mixer do the heavy lifting. Fit it with the dough hook, fill the bowl with the flour, yeast mixture and eggs, and run it for around 12-15 minutes.

• Rise: Leave your dough in a warm place to do its thing while you clean the kitchen, go out for a bit, or take a nap.

• Roll: Divide the dough into 4 equal piece and roll the first piece out.

• Stuff: I’ve used pesto, pine nuts, sundried tomatoes, goat’s cheese and parmesan. You can use some or all of these ingredients. You can add finely chopped ham or cooked chicken, if you need to please some carnivores.

• Layer: Continue rolling out the dough portions and layering the ingredients. You will end up with 4 layers of dough and 3 layers of filling.

• Cut: Place a 23cm plate on top of the dough layers and cut away the excess, so all four layers of dough are the same size. Then place something small and circular (around 5cms) in the middle to use as a guide. Treating the dough circle like a clock, cut cleanly through all four layers at 12, 3, 6 and 9. Then slice through each quarter, to make 8 slices. Then once more to make 16 slices.

• Twist: Now, grab a piece in each hand using your thumb and first two fingers and twist – away from each other. So your left hand will turn the slice to the left, and your right hand will turn the slice to the right. Twist each slice twice, and then twist around another half so you can join the ends of each slice by pinching them together and forming little points. Once you’ve done the first one you’ll see how easy it really it is. Just have some paper towels handy in case some pesto seeps out!

• Rest: By this stage, we’ve manhandled the dough quite a bit. Let it rest and plump up for a while.

• Bake: This is the best part, when your whole house smells all warm and tasty like a bakery.

• Eat: Admire, pull apart and share with friends.

I promise, yeast isn’t anything to be frightened by. Neither is the twisting, which makes this bread look oh so pretty. All you need is some patience and a good filling.

And once you realise that yeast isn’t scary, try out this focaccia recipe!

Savoury Pull-Apart Star Bread

A savoury, pull-apart star bread, stuffed with pesto, sundried tomatoes and goat’s cheese – a perfect celebratory brunch treat to share with friends

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Course: Bread, Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: Western

Diet: Baking

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes minutes

Rising Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours

Servings: 8

Author: Eff | Food Daydreaming

Ingredients

For the Bread:

• 220 ml milk, plus 20ml extra on hand if needed
• 30 g butter
• 7 g yeast (1 envelope / 2 ¼ teaspoons)
• 450 g bread flour or plain all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon dried mixed Italian herbs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 eggs, divided, and at room temperature

For the Filling:

• 3 rounded tablespoons pesto
• 6 sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 50 g goat’s cheese, crumbled
• Handful of shredded parmesan
• Handful of pine nuts
• Sesame seeds, optional

Instructions

• Heat the milk and butter until they are hot to the touch or between 43°C and 45°C. Add the yeast, mix well, cover with a plate and set aside for 10 minutes or until frothy.
• In the meantime, combine the flour, herbs, salt and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer, equipped with the dough hook.
• When the yeast is frothy, create a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the yeast mixture and 2 of the eggs. Mix with a spoon briefly so a shaggy dough forms. Place the bowl in the stand mixer and knead on medium speed for 10 minutes or until the dough is soft and smooth. (Note: if the dough is dry and not coming together in the first 3 minutes of mixing, add the additional milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to help the dough come together.)
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly, making sure the dough is smooth and elastic, adding a tiny bit more flour a little at a time if the dough feels too wet or sticky. Then lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough into the bowl, turning it over a couple of times to coat the dough in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours to rise, or until doubled in size.
• When the dough has risen and is springy to the touch, punch it down and set it aside to rest for a further 30 to 45 minutes, or again until doubled in size.
• When the dough is ready, divide it into 4 equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time (keep the others in the oiled bowl), roll it out thinly on a lightly floured surface until it’s bigger than 23cm or the plate you will be using as a guide – you want to have excess to cut away.
• Set the rolled-out dough on a (preferably) round baking paper-covered baking tray that is again bigger than the cutting guide. Spread 1 tablespoon of pesto all over the dough and then scatter with 1/3 of the sundried tomatoes, goat’s cheese, parmesan and pine nuts.
• Roll out the second piece of dough and place it on top of the filling of the first layer. Spread another tablespoon of pesto all over the second layer of dough as well as half of all the other remaining ingredients. Repeat this once more, using up the third dough ball and the remainder of the filling ingredients.
• Roll out the last piece of dough and layer it over the top. Place the 23cm guide or plate on top, and using a sharp knife, cut around the plate to trim away any excess so you’re left with all four layers of dough cut evenly to size.
• Place a roughly 5cm cookie cutter, cup or tea strainer in the centre of the prepared dough to use as a cutting guide. Treating the dough circle like a clock face, cut cleanly through all four layers at 12, 3, 6 and 9. Then slice through each quarter, to make 8 slices. Then cut in half again to make 16 slices total.
• Taking two pieces that are next to each other in each hand, use your thumb underneath and first two fingers on top to twist the strands away from each other – so your left hand will turn the slice to the left, and your right hand will turn the slice to the right. Twist each slice twice, and then twist around another half so you can join the ends by pinching them together and forming little points. Repeat all the way around.
• Once all the slices have been twisted in pairs, cover the star bread with a tea towel and set aside to rest for around 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C.
• When ready to bake the star bread, make an egg wash by beating the remaining egg with a few drops of hot water and brushing a thin layer all over the star bread with a pastry brush (you won’t need it all). Scatter the middle with sesame seeds, if using, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes – the bread should be lightly golden on the top and bottom and hollow sounding when tapped.
• Serve warm.

Cook along with me

Did you make this recipe?Mention @food_daydreaming or tag #fooddaydreaming on instagram. I love seeing what you all come up with!

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 46.5g | Protein: 13.7g | Fat: 14.1g | Cholesterol: 83.1mg | Sodium: 487.2mg | Sugar: 3.4g