How to Shape Sun Bread

My mom and I made this sun bread for Litha (the Summer Solstice), but it would also be a great design for Lughnasadh/Lammas coming up soon or for Yule (the Winter Solstice.) It’s also a fun bread to make whenever you want to bring some sun energy into your life!

Start by making your dough, and getting it through the second rise. You can use one of my bread recipes if you are gluten free (sandwich rolls, honee sunflower bread, hot cross buns, or pumpernickel bread), or any wheat flour bread recipe that you like. I used my honee sunflower bread dough recipe in the photos below, except that I increased the flour to 500 g. With that flour increase, I did not need to add any additional flour before shaping the dough. Follow the directions in the bread recipe for adding more flour if your dough is not firm enough to shape.

Stir down the dough, then divide it into two pieces. The larger one should be 60% of the total dough weight, and the smaller piece 40%. Pat the larger piece into a flat disc about 8.5 inches in diameter onto a parchment lined baking sheet:

Grease a sharp knife, then cut four slices across the dough as shown, leaving a 1.5 inch border all the way around:

Pick up one triangle at a time, and fold it back over the border as shown. Pinch the end back into a point if it got a bit smooshed when moving it.

Keep folding the triangles back until you are done:

Next, shape the smaller piece of dough into a ball and then flatten it out into a disc a little smaller than the inside of your bread ring:

Place the disc of dough into the ring, then flatten it out to fit:

My mom drew a face on a circle of paper that was cut to the same size as the center of our loaf. I used the pattern as a guide in the next step.

Sprinkle flour on the center disc like this:

Dip a finger in water and paint a face on your sun. (I had to keep dipping my finger to have enough water to create my design.)

Place the pan inside the plastic bag to rise. Be sure that the bag is not touching the loaf as it will stick and mar your loaf. I forgot to get a photo of this step, so here is one of a braided loaf to show how the bag should be poofed up and away from your dough:

Let the dough rise until it is nearly doubled in size, but not cracked on the top. My loaf had already risen quite a bit while I was shaping and decorating so it didn’t need to rise a lot more. Your dough will only need to rise for 15 to 20 minutes if your room is 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but will need 30 to 45 minutes if your room is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and somewhere in between if your room temperature is in the middle. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit while it is rising. (You will not be able to use it as a place for rising your dough this time.) Place the shallow pan on a lower rack and add about a 1/4″ layer of water. Keep an eye on the water level if your rising time is over 30 minutes as you may need to add more. Before your loaf is fully risen, be sure there is still at least a 1/8″ layer of water in the shallow pan. If you have to add more, you will need to allow it to get hot and produce steam before baking your bread.

Carefully remove the pan from the bag, and place your pan in the steamy oven. Bake your sun bread until it is golden brown, which should take about 35 to 40 minutes. Let it cool on a rack before breaking off pieces to eat.

My mom and I broke off pieces and served them with salad and vegan cheese for Litha:

I split my chunks of bread in half, spread them with a little vegan butter, and topped them with slices of Daiya vegan farmhouse block-style cheddar cheese! So good!