For the letter 'B' I decided to do a version of a traditional Bulgarian Christmas loaf. I had originally intended to make it over Christmas but I didn't find time to do any baking, and since we had lots of cakes and chocolates to eat, we didn't really need more bread.

Ingredients

(For the bread)

• 2 cups of bread flour
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 eggs
• 50g softened butter
• ½ cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tablespoon honey

(For the glaze)

• 1 tsp of honey
• a few drops of water

Mix the water and honey a few drops at a time until the honey is a pourable consistency.

Method

I put all the bread ingredients in our food mixer, with the dough hook, and let it mix for a few minutes. Since this a brioche type bread, the mix was very wet and a bit sticky, which made it difficult to handle and shape.

I broke the dough into equal weight pieces, rolled them into balls and put them in a round tin to prove.

After they had risen, I carefully brushed them with the honey mixture. It was baked in a pre-heated oven (gas mark 5) for half an hour. I started it off covered in foil, but took the foil off after the first 15 minutes.

Verdict: a soft slightly sweet brioche with a honey flavoured crust. Definitely one to try again.