Recipe: Raspberry cream cheese braid (one large loaf and one small loaf)
Ingredients:
Dough
- 3 cups atta flour
- 3 tp active dry yeast
- about 1/2 to 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 6 TB non-fat plain yogurt
- 6 TB butter, softened
- 1+1/4 tp kosher salt
- 1 egg
Cream cheese filling
- 1 package cream cheese, softened
- 2 TB butter, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 tp kosher salt
- 1 tp vanilla extract
- 3 TB cornstarch
- 1 large egg
Jam filling
- 1/2 cup raspberry jam
- 2 TB cornstarch
Egg wash
- 1 TB egg white
- 1 TB milk
Procedure:
1. Mix yeast, 1 tp sugar and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl. Add 1/4 cup water and mix to form a soft dough. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rest until dough is risen with plenty of bubbles.
2. Mix the remaining 2+1/2 cup flour, all the sugar and salt together in a large bowl.
3. When the dough has risen, add it to the flour mixture in the large bowl. Add egg, softened butter and yogurt. Mix the ingredients with hand and allow the dough to form gradually. While forming the dough, allow the dough a minute of rest and then knead again. Do so a few times, adding water incrementally, 2-3 TB at a time to hydrate the dough until it becomes soft and smooth.
4. Allow dough to rest in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, until dough has risen by about 1.5 times.
5. While letting dough rest, prepare the fillings.
6. To prepare the cream cheese filling, mix together cream cheese, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture is soft and homogenous, add egg and cornstarch. Mix well, making sure to scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl to mix thoroughly.
7. To make the jam filling, mix raspberry jam with cornstarch. Mix thoroughly.
8. The two fillings and the dough may be prepared ahead of time and chilled until used.
9. When dough has risen, cut into two pieces according to need.
10. Roll each piece into a rectangular sheet about 1/8" thick. Place each piece on parchment paper. Use a pizza cutter to cut 3/4"-thick strips at 45-degree angle down each side of the sheet.
11. Spread jam on the middle part of the sheet. Top with a thick layer of cream cheese filling.
12. Braid the strips together. Then allow the braided loaf to rest on parchment paper, covered with plastic wrap. Allow to rise until the loaf looks puffy.
13. Preheat oven to 350F. Brush the top of the braided loaf with a wash of egg white mixed with milk.
14. Bake on middle rack for about 30-50 minutes, depending on size of the loaf.
15. After the first 10-15 minutes, when the top is golden brown, cover with foil and continue baking until the cheese has set.
16. When done, allow to cool on parchment paper. Sprinkle confectionary sugar through a sieve, if desired.
Results:
11:17am, initial dough with just 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 water and all the yeast:
11:50am, mixing all the rest of the ingredients to form the final dough:
12:24pm, final dough hydrated with extra water:
12:36pm, final dough to rest (top and height):
12:38pm, mixing cheese, butter, sugar and salt to form the cheese filling:
12:40pm, adding egg and cornstarch to the cheese filling:
12:44pm, cheese filling completed:
12:54pm, dough risen 20 minutes:
12:56pm, preparing jam filling with cornstarch:
12:58pm, jam filling made:
1:01pm, rolling out the large piece of dough:
1:03pm, large dough rolled out:
1:04pm, large dough sheet cut out:
1:06pm, large dough sheet with jam filling:
1:08pm, large dough sheet with cheese filling:
1:09pm, large dough folding:
1:10pm, large dough braided:
1:14pm, large dough ready to rest:
2:26pm, large dough rested 1 hour, ready to bake:
2:56pm, large loaf baked 30 minutes (covered with foil after the first 15 minutes of baking):
3:14pm, large loaf baked 50 minutes:
3:22pm, large loaf dusted with confectionary sugar by rubbing a spoon of confectionary sugar on a sieve:
3:22pm, details of large loaf:
3:34pm, heel of large loaf:
Small loaf
2:32pm, small dough being rolled out:
2:39pm, small dough rolled out:
2:40pm, small dough sheet cut and spread with jam filling:
2:42pm, small dough sheet with cheese filling:
2:44pm, small dough braided:
3:14pm, small dough rested 30 minutes:
3:14pm, height of the small dough after rest:
3:16pm, small loaf baking started:
3:34pm, small loaf baked 18 minutes:
3:35pm, small loaf covered with foil and returned for further baking:
3:51pm, small loaf baked 30 minutes:
3:53pm, small loaf's top:
3:53pm, small loaf's heel:
3:53pm, small loaf's bottom:
3:54pm, small loaf's side:
3:55pm, cheese on the small loaf:
8:00pm, a cut near the heel of the braid:
Next day, a cut at the center of the braid:
Observations:
1. The atta flour has so much gluten that it gives a rather elastic dough. When the dough is stretched out, it springs back readily.
2. While the braided loaf is proofing, the strips shrink back, especially on both ends.
3. The strips shrink further in the oven.
4. With the large loaf, the strips are cut too deep. So a lot of the jam and cream cheese is exposed. I need to put something around the dough to prevent it from spreading. Once the loaf is hardened in the oven, the filling also hardens. So it does not give much trouble.
5. Perhaps the baking is a little too long. The cream cheese starts to crack.
6. The cornstarch helps both the cream cheese and the jam to cake. However, the cornstarch also makes the jam look cloudy instead of clear.
To do:
The fillings are in my opinion too sweet. Also, there seems to be too much fillings for a dough made from 3 cup of flour. I would reduce the filling by one-third, and half the sugar the next time I make it.
However, when the loaf cools down, I do enjoy a slice of it. The bread is dense, and a little crunchy and chewy, with a distinctive texture of atta flour.
The baking of this loaf leaves a very nice aroma to the house. Even though it is a sweet loaf, the aroma reminds one more of a plain naan or savory bread than a sweet bread! When my husband stepped in, he smelled bread, and greatly desired it!
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