Basic Sweet Dough

• 2 cups milk
• ½ cup butter or margarine
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• ½ cup warm water (105 to 115˚)
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 9½ to 10 cups all purpose flour

Scald milk; stir in butter, sugar and salt. Cool to lukewarm.

Dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add lukewarm milk mixture, eggs and half of flour to yeast; beat until smooth. Stir in as much of remaining flour as necessary to make slightly stiff dough. (For Grecian Feast Braided Loaf, remove 1/3^rd of dough and follow recipe given below.)

Turn dough out on floured board; let rest 5 minutes. Knead 5 to 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Put dough in greased bowl; grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in bulk, about 1 hour. Punch down; divide in thirds and use in the variations that follow.

Grecian Feast Braided Loaf

• 1/3^rd Basic Sweet Dough (before kneading)
• ½ cup currants
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel
• ¼ tsp ground mace
• 1 egg beaten (for glaze)

Remove 1/3^rd of Basic Sweet Dough when mixed, before kneading. Work in currants, lemon peel and mace; knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Place in greased bowl; grease top. Cover; let rise in warm place until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch down and divide into 3 equal parts. Roll each into a long strip to braid; pinch the ends of the three rolls and braid.

Cover; let rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Paint the braid thoroughly with egg before baking. Bake in moderate over (350˚) about 25 minutes.

Swedish Tea Ring

• ¼ cup soft butter or margarine
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp grated lemon peel
• ½ cup ground almonds
• 1/3 of Basic Sweet Dough
• 1 cup dried or candied fruit, chopped

Work butter into sugar. Add lemon peel and almonds; mix well.

Roll dough into 14x10 rectangle. Sprinkle sugar mixture evenly over dough. Arrange dried or candied fruit evenly over all. Roll up from long side. Form into circle on greased baking sheet; seal ends together firmly. Make slashes with a sharp knife in the dough every 1½ inches. Place greased custard cup in center to keep hole round for non-drip candle.

Cover; let rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour.

Bake in moderate over (350˚) 25 to 30 minutes.

Apricot Crescents

• 1/3 of Basic Sweet Dough
• 2 cups of Apricot Filling (Below)
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp sugar

Divide dough into 2 equal parts. Roll each piece to 12 x 8' rectangle. Spread each with 1 cup Apricot Filling. Roll up from long side. Shape in crescents on greased baking sheet. Make slashes with a sharp knife every 1½ inches on tops. Brush with butter; sprinkle with sugar.

Cover; let rise until double in bulk, about 30 minutes.

Bake in moderate oven (350˚) 25 to 30 minutes. Makes 2 crescents.

Apricot Filling

• 2 cups dried apricots (11 ounce package)
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup butter
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Combine in a heavy saucepan, 2 cups dried apricots and 1 cup water. Cover and simmer until apricots are soft, about 20 minutes. Add ¼ cup butter, stir and mash until butter is melted. Add 1 ½ cups sugar, stir to dissolve and beat well. Cool; add 1 cup walnuts. Makes 3 cups of filling.