Caramel Christmas Wreath

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup(s) sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup(s) butter or margarine
• 1 cup(s) water
• 1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 cup(s) all-purpose-flour
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup(s) heavy or whipping cream
• 1 can(s) (13.4-ounce) dulce de leche (see Tips)
• 2 tablespoon(s) confectioners' sugar
• Raspberries, for garnish
• Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

---

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using 8-inch plate or cake pan as guide, with nontoxic pen, trace circle on parchment. (If not using nontoxic pen, flip parchment over so that ink does not touch food.) On 15 1/2" by 10 1/2" jelly-roll pan, spread almonds in single layer. Toast 4 to 5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Cool almonds in pan on wire rack.
2. In 3-quart saucepan, heat butter, water, and salt to boiling on medium-high. Reduce heat to medium-low and add flour. Stir continuously 1 minute or until mixture leaves side of pan and forms a ball. Continue stirring 2 to 3 minutes or until mixture begins to coat bottom of pan. Transfer to large mixer bowl and cool 2 minutes.
3. With mixer on medium speed, beat mixture 1 minute. Continue beating and add eggs, 1 at a time, then beat 2 to 3 minutes longer or until satiny. The mixture should still be warm and cling to the side of the bowl. Transfer dough to large piping bag fitted with 3/4-inch plain tip or to large self-sealing plastic bag with one corner cut to form 3/4-inch hole.
4. Using circle traced on parchment as guide, pipe dough onto parchment on cookie sheet in 1-inch-thick ring just inside circle. Pipe second ring inside of first, making sure dough rings touch. With remaining dough, pipe third ring on top of center seam of first two rings. With moistened finger, gently smooth dough rings where ends meet.
5. Bake 20 minutes. Reset oven control to 375°F and bake 25 minutes or until golden. Remove wreath from oven; with tip of small knife, make several small slits all over to release steam. Bake 10 minutes longer. Cool wreath completely on cookie sheet on wire rack.
6. While wreath is cooling, whisk cream until soft peaks form. In large bowl, with mixer or wooden spoon, beat dulce de leche 5 minutes or until soft. Gently fold almonds into dulce de leche. With long serrated knife, slice wreath horizontally in half; remove and discard moist dough from inside. With spoon or spatula, spread almond mixture into bottom of wreath; top with whipped cream. Replace top of wreath.
7. To serve, dust wreath with confectioners' sugar and garnish with raspberries and mint leaves.

---

Tips & Techniques

The wreath can be baked up to 2 days ahead. Cool wreath completely, then store in self-sealing plastic bag at room temperature. Re-crisp in preheated 325°F oven for 10 minutes. Cool wreath completely on wire rack before slicing and filling with dulce de leche, almonds, and whipped cream as directed in step 6.

*Dulce de leche, a thick caramel-like sauce consisting of slow-cooked sweetened milk that is popular in Latin America, can be found in most supermarkets or specialty stores in the canned-milk aisle.