For years I have been making this tea ring for Christmas morning. There is something nice about having the family awaken to the smell of baking that special morning. I mix the dough on Christmas Eve, usually before going downtown to sing midnight Mass at St James Anglican, a wonderful service which gives my Mennonite heart all the 'smells and bells' it needs for another year.
The dough is Mother's recipe for cinnamon buns, a recipe I once made at Mark's and Amy's for the clan. I still remember Paul walking into the kitchen, exclaiming over and over, "I know that smell . . . what is it?" I suspect Mother's recipe came from the Betty Crocker cookbook Dad gave her for their first wedding anniversary (and had I known this fact earlier, the book would never have been donated to a used bookstore).
Since Aaron is vegan, I make suitable substitutions, but give the original recipe here. I would be hard-pressed to tell by taste which is/is not vegan.
Start:
--1 package of yeast in 1/4 c. lukewarm water
--with 1/4 c. sugar. Stir and let rest until the yeast is obviously active.
Meanwhile, mix the remaining wet ingrediants in another bowl:
--2 beaten eggs (or egg substitute)
--2 c. lukewarm milk (or water)
--3 teaspoons salt
--1/4 c. melted shortening (being lazy, I use canola oil)
Combine yeast water with mixed wet ingrediants
Add flour. Start with 3 c., stir thoroughly and then start kneeding, slowly adding up to 6-6.5 cups of flour total, depending on the humidity, temperature and patience.
Kneed thoroughly until dough is no longer willingly accepting new flour, the dough becomes stretchy and has that wonderful yeasty smell and taste.
Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, leaving lots of room for expansion. Let rise twice, punching down between times to force out the gas (which would otherwise prevent further rising). I punch it down when I return from Mass, and the forget it until I get up in the morning.
Get out of bed. Preheat oven to 375F.
Punch the dough and divide it into 2 parts. Take one part at a time and form it into a nice thick rope by squeezing it vertically, letting it fall downwards as the rope is formed, about the length you want for the first ring. Lightly flour the work space and form the rope into the shape you want, finishing with a rolling pin.
--Melt enough butter (margerine) to be spread over the entire surface of the first ring. Spread butter with spoon (finishing with fingers--nobody sees you, they're still asleep).
--Spread brown sugar over the buttered dough
--Spread chopped walnuts or almonds and raisins (add extra raisins just for Bruce) over dough
--Sprinkle liberally with cinnamon
Roll up the dough (sidways) into a new much thicker rope on the workspace, then form it into a ring, joining the ends. Place on buttered flat baking sheet.
With scissors, cut the top of the ring at 1" intervals so the dough can rise and expand gracefully.
Bake at c. 375F about 18-25 minutes (watch it carefully so it doesn't burn on the bottom as the sugar leaks out). I suppose some folks would let this rise again before baking, but by now I'm famished and want to get the show on the road, so I simply pop the first ring into the oven.
When done, frost with white frosting sugar, real vanilla (one never ever measures real vanilla) and milk (water). Spread. Start the coffee and get dressed . . . now it's Christmas.
