Swedish tea ring

I got bored today and I started searching Christmas recipes. This is always a dangerous thing to do because you will end up making things that you do not need( but hey, it IS the holiday season). Anyway, I had a good excuse to be browsing the Christmas breads because we accidentally bought a big bag of flour when we already had an unopened one in our cabinet. After browsing awhile I found this recipe for something called a "Swedish Tea Ring". It looks complicated when you see a completed picture of it, but the recipe sounded fairly easy and it was! Let me tell you right now that these things are amazing. They have been out of the oven less than an hour and I have eaten two of them. Instead of simply linking the recipe I used I am writing it down here because I made several changes to both the ingredients and the measurements.

Almond-Orange Swedish Tea Ring with Orange Glaze

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 small clementine oranges, juiced and zested
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup halved or slivered Almonds
  
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup confectioners' sugar

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water and let stand until creamy, about 15 minutes. Zest and juice the oranges; set juice aside for later use.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk, butter, salt, sugar, eggs, orange zest and 2 cups of the flour. Stir until smooth and well combined. Mix in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has come together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume; about 1 hour.
3. Punch down the dough and turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle approximately 12x24 inches. In a small bowl, mix together the cinnamon, 1/4 cup white sugar. 1/4 cup brown sugar and Almonds; spread this mixture evenly across the dough. Roll the dough into a long roll and press the seam closed. With the seam turned downward, seal the two ends together to make a ring. Use a little water to help you seal the ends.
4. Place the ring on a cookie pan you have sprayed with non stick spray. Using a sharp knife or kitchen shears, make cuts every inch or so along the ring, cutting only three quarters of the way through. Twist each piece slightly so that the rolls fan out from the center of the ring. Cover the roll with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled in volume, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
5. Bake the tea ring at 375 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Remove the ring from the oven, place on a rack to cool.
6. Place the orange juice in a small bowl along with the vanilla. Add 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Continue adding powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the mixture is fairly thick but still pourable. Drizzle the orange-sugar topping over the ring.(if you add too much powdered sugar or want it more sour add a teaspoon or two extra of orange juice)

Here is a picture of the final product(tastes so much better than it looks ) so you can see how to cut and twist the roll. The hardest part to me was getting the roll from the counter onto the pan and then off of the pan and onto a big platter.My ring broke when i put it on the platter which is why there is no picture of a whole ring. I used a whisk to drizzle the glaze over the ring while it was still hot then let it set up and cool before covering it with plastic wrap. I can't wait to wake up in the morning and stick one of these rolls in the microwave for a few seconds....MMMMMM.