Cornucopias represent abundance, wealth and prosperity, and are often associated with Thanksgiving. Set this symbolic centerpiece on your table for a decorative and edible addition to your harvest celebration.
Bread Cornucopia
Updated on Nov. 20, 2024
Not even a beautifully bronzed turkey could steal the spotlight from this stunning bread cornucopia. Filled and plated with fall harvest fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses, it’s a step up from a charcuterie board—especially since the cornucopia itself is edible, too!
Believe it or not, our bread cornucopia is surprisingly easy to pull off. All you have to do is form the shape of the cornucopia with tin foil, then wrap strips of store-bought pizza dough around it. Bake it, remove the tin foil and voila! You’ve created an edible cornucopia that will become your dinner table’s star centerpiece.
Ingredients for Bread Cornucopia
- Refrigerated pizza dough: Purchase two cans of refrigerated pizza dough. Go for a trusted, well-known brand, like Pillsbury. You can break out your own homemade pizza dough recipe, but yeast can be a fussy ingredient to work with if you’re not a baker who works with it regularly.
- Egg: You’ll only need one egg to make an egg wash. The egg wash will help the cornucopia brown and get a nice sheen and shine.
- Heavy whipping cream: A splash of heavy cream is added to the egg wash to promote browning even further.
Directions
Step 1: Shape the tinfoil
To make the aluminum foil cornucopia form, cut off a 24-inch sheet of foil.
Roll it into a cone shape with a 5- to 7-inch circular opening.
Fold the edges inward.
Insert balls of additional foil to provide support to the inside of the cone so that the dough doesn’t weigh down the cone and misshape it.
Next, curve the pointed end of the tin foil cone to one side to create a cornucopia shape.
Spray cooking spray on both the tin foil cornucopia form and the baking sheet. Finally, place the tin foil cornucopia form on top of the baking sheet.
Step 2: Cut out the strips
On a floured surface, roll out both refrigerated pizza doughs into large rectangles, each measuring about 24 inches. Cut each rectangle into 1-inch strips.
Using three strips, make a braid, and set it aside. If desired, make two braids.
Editor’s Tip: Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into strips.
Step 3: Wrap the strips around the tin foil cornucopia form
Starting at the curved endpoint of the tin foil cornucopia form, wrap one strip around the form, slightly overlapping the strips as you wrap. Add additional strips as needed, pinching the ends together to seal.
Continue to wrap strips around the form until you reach the circular opening of the form. Place the braid at the opening, and seal the braid’s ends underneath the cornucopia.
Step 4: Bake the cornucopia
Beat together the egg and the heavy whipping cream. Brush the egg wash evenly over the cornucopia. Pop the cornucopia on the baking sheet into the oven, and bake the cornucopia at 350ºF until the desired level of golden brown is achieved, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Remove the cornucopia from the oven and let it cool at room temperature for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Then, carefully remove the tin foil form, compacting it as needed. Let the bread cornucopia cool completely to room temperature before filling and plating it.
How to Serve a Bread Cornucopia
Whether you plan to serve this bread cornucopia on the appetizer table or as the dinner table centerpiece, you’ll want to make it look as appealing as possible.
First, place the bread cornucopia on a nice serving board, plate or tray. Arrange bountiful, tight clusters of purple and green grapes coming out of the cornucopia and cascading around the outside. Place cheese cubes around the grapes inside the cornucopia, with a few crunchy breadsticks emerging, too. Finally, arrange meats, other cheeses, crackers, dried fruit and crudites, if desired, on the tray. Basically, treat the rest of the serving tray like a charcuterie board.
If you want guests to eat the bread cornucopia, place dips around the serving tray. Cold ranch dip or garlic dip would pair beautifully with both the bread and crudites, and warm artichoke dip and beer cheese dip are truly irresistible.
How to Store Bread Cornucopia
Once your bread cornucopia has cooled to room temperature, gently cover it with a light tea towel. It can be kept at room temperature for up to three days.
Can you make a bread cornucopia ahead of time?
Yes, you can make a bread cornucopia up to three days ahead of time. The best way to stay ahead on holiday prep is with make-ahead Thanksgiving recipes. This bread cornucopia is perfect for that!
Bread Cornucopia Tips
How do you make a tinfoil cornucopia?
Before we bake the bread cornucopia, we need a few tools to make sure it bakes properly and holds its iconic shape. Grab a roll of heavy-duty aluminum foil and cut a 24-inch sheet. Roll it into a cone shape, making sure to leave a 5- to 7-inch opening at the widest part. Fold the opening inward to create a rim.
Rip off smaller sheets of aluminum foil, roll them into balls, and fill them in the tinfoil cornucopia for extra support. Finally, curve the tail of the cornucopia to one side to make the iconic cornucopia shape. You’ll then want to make sure your tinfoil cornucopia and the baking sheet are greased with cooking spray, so the pizza dough doesn’t stick to the foil or baking sheet.
How do you make a braid with the refrigerated pizza crust dough?
To make a braid with the pizza crust dough, line three strips parallel to each other and pinch the tops together. Grab the strip on the right, and cross it over the middle strip, moving the middle strip slightly to the right so the right braid can fit in the middle. The right strip should now be in the middle, and the middle strip should now be on the right. Now, grab the left strip, and cross it over the new middle strip. Repeat this process until you’ve created a braid all the way down. Pinch the ends and arrange the braid on the opening of the cornucopia.
Do you have to use homemade dough to make a bread cornucopia?
No, you don’t have to use homemade dough to make a bread cornucopia. We keep our cornucopia bread recipe super easy by using store-bought refrigerated pizza crust dough. There are a lot of other Thanksgiving recipes you have to closely monitor the day of, and working with yeast in a homemade pizza dough recipe can become a bit stressful.
Baked Bread Cornucopia
Prep Time
35 min
Cook Time
20 min
Yield
1 Cornucopia
Ingredients
- Materials needed:
- Heavy-duty aluminum foil:
- Cooking spray
- Baking sheet:
- 2 containers (13.8 ounces each) refrigerated pizza crust
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
Directions
- Spray both the foil form and the baking sheet with cooking spray. Place form on the baking sheet.
- On a floured surface, roll out pizza dough into a large rectangle, about 24-inches. Cut each rectangle into 1-inch strips. Using three strips, make a braid; set aside. (If desired, make two braids.) Starting at the curved point, wrap one strip around the form, slightly overlapping strips as you wrap. Add additional strips as needed, pinching ends together to seal.
- Continue to wrap until you reach the circular opening of the form. Place braid at the opening; seal braids underneath the cornucopia.
- Beat egg and cream together; brush evenly over cornucopia.
- Bake at 350° until desired level of golden brown is achieved, about 20-30 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. Carefully remove foil form, compacting it as needed. Cool completely.
- Cornucopia may be made up to 3 days in advance. Store at room temperature, covered lightly with a towel.
- To use, place cornucopia on a tray or board. Fill with grapes, assorted cheeses, breadsticks, meats, crackers or other decorations as desired for a centerpiece.
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I often use my bread dough cornucopia to serve rolls, vegetables or chunks of cheese and sausage when we have get-togethers. It also looks festive as a centerpiece stuffed with non-edibles like gourds, greens and nuts. —Jacquelyn Dickey, Independence, Missouri
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