Thanksgiving Centerpiece: Cornucopia’s Time to Shine!

The Winter holidays are growing steadily upon us, now is the time to consider creating a memorable table centerpiece. Table centerpieces such as the cornucopia serve as much a purpose as decor as they do a sign of prosperity. In the upcoming holidays especially when family, friends, and even Corporate and Social events gather, the table centerpiece is exactly that. Once everyone gathers at the table for the meal to begin, the centerpiece will definitely attract attention and serve as a talking piece. Not only that, being as visible as it is, it should be very important to pick out a centerpiece that matches the theme of your event. With Thanksgiving coming up, the Cornucopia, also known as the horn of plenty, is a symbol of wealth and abundance. It’s usually a big, horn-shaped container that’s overfilled with flowers, fruits, nuts, and/or other stuff to show wealth, abundance, and prosperity.

It’s very important to plan ahead with centerpieces. You must decide the scale of your project, materials, edibility, theme, etc. Your standard cornucopia weave basket can be found at a neighborhood hobby store such as Michael’s. You can get decorations to fill it or line it with a napkin and place edibles inside. However, if you decide to make an edible cornucopia container, read on! The following instructions will show you have to make a cornucopia out of bread.

Ingredients:
42oz of basic bread dough for a small cornucopia 10-12″ or 70oz for a large cornucopia 16-18″, Don’t get anything that will flake.
Rosemary or whatever herbs you want for the bread
1 Non-stick cooking spray such as Pam
Decorative edible filling such as grapes, chocolate, or whatever
1 Egg
Very little water…like a tablespoon full

Other Requirements
Aluminum foil to make the mold
Something to mold the aluminum foil around such as a water bottle or a large water bottle for the large cornucopia
1 Rolling pin
1 Dough knife or a knife
1 Baking sheet

Directions:
The Mold:
Take your mold item such as a water bottle and angle it because your cornucopia will be angled upwards. If you have newspaper or something, you can even use that to create a funnel around the bottle. Now, take the foil and start wrapping it around the bottle at an angle. This will form a cone. You will want to do this until you have a thick mold rigid enough to rest dough over without collapsing. Typically, 3-5 layers is enough. On the top opening of the cornucopia mold, fold over the edges so that it is very thick. This is going to be the heaviest part of the mold and also going to need the most strength to support the dough. Once you have a nice, thick, wide opening…you can take out the bottle and paper if you placed some inside and you can bend the “tail” of the cornucopia. Be sure to keep the foil tail pointy for easy removal later.

The Dough:
Take out your dough. You’ll be kneading it together and then rolling it out with a rolling pin to a square or rectangular shape. Just sprinkle whatever herbs, cheese or whatever topper you wanted to bake into the cornucopia. At this point, you’ll want use the rolling pin to roll it out to be about 1/2″ thick or so. Using the knife, you’ll be cutting 1″ strips. With the non-stick cooking spray, spray the foil mold of the cornucopia. Now take the strips and lay them over the cornucopia. Make sure to overlap it a little bit so that there are no holes or gaps once baked. Leave a inch or so clear off the top so you can take out the mold once baked. Once the cornucopia is covered, take three strips of dough and braid it together. This will decorate the edge of the cornucopia. If desired, you can even make the whole cornucopia out of braided dough.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, mix the egg and water together and then brush over the cornucopia. Once the oven is preheated, just put in the cornucopia and bake for 20-35 minutes depending on how large of a cornucopia you are making. Shield parts of your cornucopia with foil if it starts baking unevenly. Now, once finished baking, let the cornucopia rest for a bit to cool off. Once cooled enough, VERY gently remove the foil mold and fill with whatever you want. Have fun and you can decorate it additionally to fit your delicious centerpiece needs! Be creative. I’ve seen these things made with chocolate and filled with chocolate and other things too.

Cornucopia

Cornucopia…a bread basket full of delicious things.