Raspberry Cream Breakfast Braid

I love-love-love pastries.

I love creating them, making them and eating them.

This one is a culmination of a couple different recipes.

I used the "Amish Bread" recipe for the bread portion and took

the filling from another recipe "Braided Lemon Bread."

I used raspberry jam instead of lemon curd since that's

what I had on hand. I'll include the lemon curd recipe if you'd like

to give it a whirl.

Raspberry Cream Breakfast Braid:



1/2 recipe Amish White Bread recipe for 1 braid, or a full recipe for 2 braids

Amish White Bread: ***these proportions are for the full recipe***

2 c. warm water

1/3 c. sugar

1 1/2 T. yeast

1 1/2 t. salt

1/4 c. vegetable oil

5 1/2 c. flour



Filling: (enough for 1 braid)

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

3 T. sugar

2 T. sour cream

2 T. flour

2 t. lemon juice

1/2 c. raspberry jam or lemon curd

Combine all ingredients except for the jam/curd, in a small bowl, set aside.

Lemon Curd: (enough for 1 braid)

3 T. fresh lemon juice
3/4 t. lemon zest, finely chopped
3 T. sugar
1 large egg
2 T. butter, cut in small pieces

Whisk together lemon juice, zest, sugar and egg in a medium saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking often, until curd is thick enough to hold whisk marks and first bubbles appear on the surface - about 5 minutes. Transfer the curd to a bowl and chill, it's surface covered with plastic wrap until cold about 1 hour. Makes just slightly less than 1/2 cup.

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For the dough, using a Kitchen Aid mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the warm water, sugar and yeast - stir to dissolve. After the yeast has proofed and become creamy looking add the oil and salt. One cup at a time, incorporate the flour until your dough comes together, with a little stickiness. You can always add more flour if the dough proves difficult to handle after the first rising.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in a warm place. Let the dough rise until doubled.

Once doubled, punch the dough down and turn the dough out onto a greased cookie sheet. Using a rolling pin create a rectangle, rolling the dough to somewhere between 1/4 inch - 1/2 inch thick. By looking at the dough, divide your rectangle into thirds and spread the filling mixture down the middle third of your rectangle. Spread the jam or lemon curd on top of the cream cheese filling. To form the braid, cut crosswise strips 1 inch apart down the outer length of your dough, careful not to cut into the middle with the filling.

To begin "braiding" begin by folding the top flap and bottom flap over the filling. Lift the top dough strip diagonally across filling and repeat with the other side, continuing all the way down the dough until you get to the end. At this point tuck to last strip decoratively under the braid.

I like to used melted butter to brush over the braid, but you may use an egg wash if you prefer.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm place to rise until quite puffy, about 45 minutes depending on how warm your "warm spot" is.

Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Let it set for 15-20 minutes, and serve warm. You may also drizzle with frosting or sprinkle with coarse sugar if you like.

Bon Appetit!