Roscon-Spanish Anise Bread

• 8 cups Flour
• 4 Eggs
• 2 1/2 bars softened Butter
• 1 little bottle Anise
• 2 cups Sugar
• 1 cup Milk
• Sambuca
• Rainbow Non-Pareils
• And Either:
• 1/2 bar cake Yeast & 1/2 cup warm Water
• or
• 1/2 packet dry Yeast & 1/8 cup warm Water

1. In bowl, proof yeast in warm water (follow basic instructions on wrapper for time and temperature)
2. Add all ingredients except flour.
3. "Add as much flour as it needs." (my favorite quote from the original directions)
4. Take out of bowl and knead with hands on a well floured board.
5. Make shape like a large doughnut.
6. Let rise for 8 hours.
7. Bake in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.
8. Paint with Sambuca and add sprinkles.
9. Serve warm with butter.
10. My friend's grandmother placed in the center of the loaf a brightly colored Easter egg. The dough would close in around it as it rose. She provided no instructions for this, though I assume it was raw when dyed and put in the oven--I've never tried to duplicate it.
11. I recommend having warm water running nearby when you start to knead the dough, as the consistancy is like Elmer's Paste and this makes clean-ups so much easier. If you don't like getting dirty when you bake, this may not be the recipe for you. But it would be an enormous loss!

flour, eggs, butter, anise, sugar, milk, either, cake yeast, yeast

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/roscon-spanish-anise-bread-1213693 (may not work)