Spinach-cheese sunflower shaped bread

I saw this picture and I knew I had to make this. But since I believe in making things difficult for myself, I decided to make it with whole-wheat bread. Luckily (for me and the kids), the bread came out supersoft, and it ended up being an excellent meal. Shudder to think of how it could just as well have gone wrong.

For the bread
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar 3 cups wholewheat flour
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp olive oil
 1 cup water (you will need much less)
pinch of salt
butter for brushing
Sesame seeds for sprinkling on top


 For the stuffing 
1 bunch spinach
6 pods garlic
1 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Grated cheese


Method 
For the bread dough
 Dissolve the sugar in a bit of warm water, add the active dry yeast, mix well and keep aside.
If it doesn't turn frothy in 10 minutes, wait an additional 5 minutes. Throw it away if it still doesn't froth, because the bread is not going to rise in any case.
Sieve the flour and salt. Add yeast, milk and oil, and start kneading. Add water as required- do not add more water than needed.
Once the dough is well mixed, knead for an additional 10 minutes. This (and the milk) is critical when you are working with whole wheat bread.
Cover with a cling foil and keep aside for about 60 minutes, by which time the dough should have doubled in size.

For the stuffing
Wash and chop the spinach leaves. Blanche in boiling water for about a minute and drain well
Crush the garlic with some oilve oil, and add to the spinach
Add the grated cheese, salt and pepper, and mix wel.

Shaping
Once the dough has risen, punch down the dough and divide into 2 parts
Roll one into a circle and place on a greased baking tray.
Place a big mound of spinach stuffing in the centre. Leave a ring, and arrange the rest of the spinach in a larger ring around the centre.
Roll out the other circle, and place over the first one. Place a small bowl over the centre mound, and using that as an indicator, press down.
Seal the perimeter, pressing down with a fork so it doesn't open out. Make long slits along the outer ring, and twist each piece by 90 degrees, taking care to shape it like the petal of a flower.

Cover and keep aside for an additional 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Brush with butter, sprinkle sesame seeds over the central part and bake for 20 minutes.