Steps

• Let’s start preparing the super soft sweet Danube by sifting the two flours, adding the packet of dry yeast. One packet is perfect for about 500 g of flour. Consider that the Manitoba I used has a strength of W 400, so one packet is more than enough. If you can’t easily find this flour you can make the Danube using all 00 flour. The result will still be delicious and super soft. As I indicated in the list of ingredients, if you don’t have dry yeast you can opt for the more traditional fresh yeast, 10 g will be enough. In this case, you need to dissolve it in lightly warmed milk and then follow all the other steps of the sweet Danube with jam recipe.

  Pour the sifted flours with the yeast into the stand mixer bowl. Add the sugar and turn the machine on at low speed. First, pour in the milk slowly, setting aside a couple of tablespoons for brushing the surface of the cake later, and then the vegetable oil. Let it work for a few minutes, then add the vial of vanilla and a pinch of salt. Now the stand mixer will do its job, which is to bind our dough well. More or less five minutes of working at low speed.

  Now it’s time for the first resting period for rising. Detach the mixer hook, clean it with a spoon and form a ball with the dough using the same spoon. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and place it in the oven with the light on. The first rising period will double the volume of our Danube dough. The time is about 2 hours. If you’re not in a hurry and can let it rise longer, you can wait 3 hours. Then proceed as the recipe follows.

  

• Take the bowl out of the oven. Lay a tablecloth on the table and place the kneading board. Dust it with some flour. Now, with a knife, cut many small balls of about 40 – 50 g of the dough, using the scale. Roll out the various disks with the rolling pin. Place a heaping teaspoon of jam or hazelnut cream (aka Nutella) or pistachio cream or custard in the center of each disk. You choose. Grease the bottom of the Christmas Tree mold with the kitchen brush with a little vegetable oil. And proceed to close the sweet Danube balls. With your fingers, roll up the edges and pinch them in the center to close the ball well. Apply a slight pressure and then roll them with the classic “meatball” or “snowball” gesture.

  Gradually place the balls in the mold, not too close together because then we will let our dough rise for another hour. Therefore, leave room for rising. Once the balls are done, put our Christmas Tree in the oven, again with the light on, to rest for another hour. After this time, with the help of the food brush, wet the surface of the Homemade Sweet Danube and sprinkle it with brown sugar and sugar crystals. We are now ready to turn on the oven for baking our Christmas dessert.

  

• Set the oven to static mode at 356°F (180°C). In my case, the oven is very old, so 338°F (170°C) and about 30 minutes of baking is enough. Everyone knows their own oven and its flaws, so I can tell you approximately 356°F (180°C) with a baking time of 35 minutes. But I am the first to say that the times and temperatures are not always the same for everyone. In my case, everything would get too cooked with this baking. Therefore, try lowering the degrees if your oven acts like mine. That said, let’s proceed with baking our dessert.

  Once finished, you can choose whether to dust it with powdered sugar or not. I preferred without because I’m not a big fan of powdered sugar. At this point, all that’s left is to remind you that I await you for the next recipe and wish you bon appétit!