Holiday Bread Cornucopia - sugar

Method

• Dissolve sugar in 2 cups warm water.
• Stir yeast into sugar-water mixture, and let stand 5 minutes.
• Pulse flour and 1 Tbs.
• salt in bowl of food processor, or combine in stand mixer fitted with dough hook.
• Add yeast mixture and oil, and process 1 minute, or beat with mixer 3 to 5 minutes, or until dough forms smooth, sticky ball that hits against sides of food processor or mixing bowl.
• Rub large bowl with oil, place dough in bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour in warm place.
• Punch down dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 4 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper, and have small glass of water ready.
• Halve poster board so you have one 20- x 15-inch piece; shape poster board into cone, and tape to hold.
• Trim open edge of cone so it stands flat on baking sheet.
• (Trimmed cone should be 7 inches wide at mouth and 15 inches long.)
• Smoothly cover outside of cone with foil, turning edges in, as necessary.
• Fill cone with crumpled parchment paper or foil to keep cone from collapsing.
• Stand cone on prepared baking sheet, and coat foil with cooking spray.
• Roll out one-third of dough to 20- x 6-inch rectangle.
• (Keep remaining dough in refrigerator so it wont get too soft.)
• Cut dough into four 20- x 11/2-inch strips.
• Wrap 1 dough strip around wide base of cone on baking sheet, wetting ends, and pressing ends together to seal so you have a ring of dough.
• Wet end of second dough strip, press end onto first strip, and wrap around cone, overlapping first dough strip by one-third to one-half of strip width.
• Wet end, and press to hold in place.
• Continue wrapping third and fourth dough strips around cone, working your way up to narrow end.
• Repeat with remaining dough until cone is completely wrapped in overlapping strips of dough.
• When finished, braid three strips of dough, and wrap around base (wide end of cone).
• Lay cone on its side on prepared baking sheet, best-looking side up.
• Beat egg with 1 Tbs.
• water and remaining pinch of salt in small bowl.
• Brush egg wash all over cornucopia.
• Bake cornucopia 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown.
• Remove cornucopia from oven.
• Carefully remove crumpled parchment paper from inside of cone, then gently pull cone away from sides of cornucopia with tongs, and remove.
• Return cornucopia to oven,
• and bake 20 minutes more, or until inside of cornucopia is dry and beginning to brown.
• Brush hot cornucopia with melted butter, if using.
• Cool.