A dear friend is visiting, and I really want to make something special for her and her family. I can't think of something better than this sweet loaf from King Arthur Flour baker's companion. This is my second time making it, and I hope my braiding will be better.
Recipe: Raspberry cheese atta bread (1 large loaf)
Ingredients:
Dough
- 1+1/2 cups + 3 TB atta flour
- 1+1/2 tps active dry yeast
- 2 TB sugar
- 3/4 tp salt
- 3 TB yogurt
- 1/2 egg
- 3 TB butter, softened
- 5 TB warm water
Cheese filling
- 2/5 of one 8 oz pack 1/3 less fat cream cheese
- 1 TB butter, softened
- 2 TB white sugar
- dash of salt (1/16 tp)
- 1/2 tp vanilla extract
- 1/2 egg
- 1 TB cornstarch
Jam filling
- 1/4 cup low sugar raspberry jam
- 1 TB cornstarch
Egg wash
- 1 TB egg white
- 1 TB 1% milk
Note: 1 egg can be shared between the dough and the cheese filling. Break the egg into a small bowl. Save 1 TB egg white for the egg wash. Then beat the rest of the egg. Separate into two parts, half for the dough and half for the cheese filling.
Procedure:
1. Proof active dry yeast in 2 TB warm water.
2. Mix 1+1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt in a large bowl.
3. Add proofed yeast, 1/2 egg, yogurt, and 1-3 TB water. Mix to form a dough. Knead the dough vigorously.
4. Add softened butter to the dough and knead well. If the dough becomes too sticky because of the water in the butter, then add up to 3 TB of atta flour to adjust the hydration level of the dough. Dough should be very soft and smooth, but not sticky.
5. Once dough is ready, allow it to rest. Prepare the two fillings.
6. For cheese filling, mix cheese with butter, sugar and salt. When it is smooth, add vanilla, 1/2 egg and cornstarch. Mix until smooth. Small lumps are ok.
7. For jam filling, mix raspberry jam with 1 TB cornstarch.
8. Roll dough out on a parchment paper into a 10"x15" sheet. Do so gradually, allowing dough to rest a minute after each stretch. No oiling is needed because dough is rich.
9. Once rolled out, cut diagonal strips out on the two sides, about 2" from the edge of dough sheet.
10. Spread cheese as a strip 2" wide on the center, lengthwise. Leave 1" from top and bottom.
11. Spread jam on top of cheese.
12. Braid the strips on both sides of the dough sheet. Fold the las strips around the bottom of the dough.
13. Allow the braided dough to rest for 1 hour.
14. Preheat oven to 350F. Apply an egg wash of beaten egg white and milk.
15. Bake at 350F on middle rack for 15 minutes. Then cover with foil and bake for another 20 minutes.
16. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
Results
4:28pm, ingredients to start with:
4:34pm, initial dough made of flour, salt, sugar, proofed yeast, egg and yogurt, and in total 5 TB warm water:
4:42pm, dough becoming really soft and smooth, very comfortable to hand:
4:43pm, rubbing butter into dough:
4:53pm, dough with 1/4 cup of atta flour added to adjust its final hydration, because the butter makes dough too sticky:
5:07pm, final ingredients (dough, cheese filling, jam filling):
5:10pm, rolling dough out on parchment paper without additional oil:
5:13pm, dough stretched out progressively, each time allowing an interval of 1 minute of rest:
5:15pm, dough ready, about 10" wide and 15" long:
5:17pm, strips cut on both left and right side (lengthwise) of the sheet; the center part should be about 60% big while the stripes should occupy about 20% on each side:
5:21pm, dough with fillings 1" away from the top and the bottom:
5:23pm, dough braided up:
5:25pm, dough to proof in pan:
5:26pm, dough's height at the start of proofing:
6:39pm, dough proofed 1 hour:
6:43pm, dough with egg wash applied, ready to bake:
6:58pm, loaf baked 15 minutes uncovered at 350F:
6:58pm, loaf covered and returned to oven to continue baking:
7:20pm, loaf baked 35 minutes in total:
7:27pm, loaf's front:
7:27pm, loaf's end:
7:27pm, loaf's center:
7:27pm, loaf's bottom:
7:29pm, two loaves for friend:
Observations
Atta flour has bran. So it needs more water than white flour. In the initial dough, the yogurt and egg makes the dough really soft and tender. But then when butter is added, the dough becomes too wet. So extra flour is needed to adjust the hydration of the dough.
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