OK, so just a warning: Baking bread and molding bread is not the easiest thing in the world. In fact, it's pretty difficult. But this how-to video and recipe should make things a lot easier, especially if you're looking for a unique piece to add to your Thanksgiving feast.
In honor of the holiday, the chef's at Little Next Door, a Los Angeles brasserie with a tradition of baking up these adorable turkey centerpieces, shared their recipe.
A centerpiece that's edible? And tasty? And cute? And vegetarian? Take me to it!
For starters, they've got this behind-the-scenes video showing you the process:
View this video on YouTube
And here are the full directions for Little Next Door's turkey bread:
Ingredients for the bread:
-3 lbs flour bread
-1 oz dry instant yeast
-1 oz salt
-1 lb levain
-Between 5 and 6 cups of cold water
Directions:
-Set your Oven to 350 degrees, and the chef recommends that you have an image of a turkey in front of you for reference. (Gobble gobble!)
To shape the body:
Mold the dough into a large ball shape
To shape the tail:
-Roll out a section of the dough and cut a 5-6" circle
-Crease one end of the circle to make a fan shape
-Make slices on the fanned section (Do not cut fully through the dough)
To shape the neck:
-Roll another section into a Cylinder (or tube) shape, keeping more dough at the top to make the head.
-This is where the photo of the turkey will come in handy! Refer to it when creating the head.
To bake the turkey:
-Set the dough on the counter in a warm place to rise.
-When fully risen, egg wash all the pieces of the turkey.
-Bake all pieces on 350 degrees in the oven. Bake the tail and neck for 20 minutes and the body for 45 minutes until golden brown.
-Take your pieces out of the oven.
-Take the body of the turkey and cut a hole in the back and front.
-Stick the tail in the back part of the body and the neck into the front.
Finishing touches:
-For the eye of the Turkey... be creative (Cranberry, Nut, Seed)
-Refer to the video if you need any other garnish ideas!
