Soft, sweet, and delicious! This sweet bread is filled with a creamy lemon filling. This is definitely another "extraordinary bread!"
This past weekend I made another bread from the Arthur Baking extraordinary bread challenge. This was the Braided Lemon bread. Only I used jam instead of lemon curd. I still really like breads. A lot.
These loaves are really yummy! The bread itself is light, soft, and slightly sweet. Layered with a cream cheese filling and jam. It was delicious! I definitely will be making this again. I think I would like to try it with apple pie filling instead of jam next time. Or Nutella. There are definitely some good options as a way to change up this recipe.
Soft, sweet, and delicious! This is definitely another "extraordinary bread!"
*Slightly adapted from Kingarthurbaking.com
Sponge
3/4 cup water, lukewarm
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon dry active yeast
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Dough
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, at room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, at room temperature, beaten
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
5 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup prepared lemon curd, jam, or desired filling
Topping
1 large egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water and a pinch of salt
pearl sugar or coarse sparkling sugar
Make the sponge in the bowl of your stand mixer by stirring together the sponge ingredients. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. Set aside and let proof for 10 to 15 minutes.
To the sponge add yogurt, butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and extracts. Stir together. Add 4 1/2 cups of the flour and mix with the paddle attachment until the dough just starts to come together. It will be rough, but that's okay. Switch to using the dough hook and knead dough in mixer for about 5 minutes on speed level 2, adding flour if needed. The dough should be soft and smooth.
Let dough rise in a greased bowl for about 90 minutes until its puffy and almost doubled.
Divide dough in half and set aside one half. Roll out each half into a 10 x 15 inch rectangle. You can place some parchment under the dough to make rolling easier. Lightly press two lines down the dough lengthwise, visually dividing it into three equal sections. Spread half the cream cheese filling down the center section and top with half the lemon curd. Make sure to leave about 1" of dough without filling at each end.
Fold the end of the dough over the filling on each end of the rectangle. Make cuts from the edge of the dough to within about 1/2" of the filling, all the way down both sides of the dough, making sure to have an even number of cuts on each side. Starting at one end, pull the cut strips over the filling, alternating sides, creating a braid. Transfer the parchment with the braided loaf to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat the process with the other rectangle.
Let loaves rest and rise for about 45 minutes or until puffy. Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 F for 23-28 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 15-20 minutes before eating.
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