My 119th experiment: Raspberry cream cheese braid

This is another one of those recipes that have been very well received. So I am doing it again for a special occasion. I adopt the KAF recipe, with some adjustment to scale to a small braid. I make this for my work, along with the pumpkin bread. Half of this loaf is gone. The pumpkin bread is gone very quickly.

Recipe: Raspberry cream cheese braid (1 small-medium loaf)

Ingredients:
Dough
- 2 tp active dry yeast
- 2 TB warm water
- 1.5 TB sugar
- 1+1/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 2 TB heavy whipping cream
- 1 tp lime juice
- 1/2 tp kosher salt
- 1 egg
- 1/4 tp lemon oil extract
Cream cheese Filling
- 1/3 package (8/3 ounce) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
- 1 TB butter spread
- 1.5 TB sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tp vanilla extract
- 1 TB unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 egg yolk, save egg white for egg wash
Jam Filling
- 1 TB raspberry jam
- 2 TB sugar
- 1 TB unbleached all purpose flour

Procedure:
1. Proof yeast in 2 TB warm water.
2. Sieve together flour, sugar, salt.
3. Mix egg, softened butter, heavy cream, lemon oil, lime juice. Beat to mix thoroughly.
4. Add yeast and wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix until integrated. Then use hand to knead until a soft smooth dough is formed.
5. Proof dough in a warm oven (heated at 150F for 10 seconds) for 1 hour or until volume has doubled.
6. Gently deflate risen dough. Place dough on parchment paper. Roll into a 15"x10" rectangle. Cut strips on both sides, lengthwise.
7. Spread jam in the 2+1/2-inch-wide center, lengthwise.
8. Spread cheese on top of jam.
9. Fold stripes over to form braids.
10. Allow loaf to proof until puffy.
11. Bake at 350F for about 30 minutes.
12. After the first 20 minutes, brush top with egg wash of egg white and water.

Results:
9:21am, all ingredients:

9:39am, ingredients for dough:

9:52am, initial dough, pliable, smooth, not sticky to hand:

9:54am, dough preparing to rest in warm oven:

10:02am, cheese filling initial ingredients:

10:08am, mixing cheese filling:

10:11am, cheese filling done and ready to chill:

10:18am, dough rested 20 minutes, punched down and allowed to rest again in warm oven:

11:05am, dough rested 1 hour in warm oven:

11:16am, dough ready to be rolled out to a rectangular sheet about the size of a baking pan:

11:17am, dough's texture, observe the long thread sticking to the little finger:

11:22am, dough rolled out, first into a rectangle:

11:28am, dough pulled into a shape that may favor braiding later; dough allowed to rest a little after stetching:

11:28am, jam filling ready:

11:30am, stripes cut on dough using pizza cutter:

11:32am, jam spread on center of dough:

11:33am, cheese spread on center of dough:

11:37am, braided:

11:38am, leaking sides:

11:46am, dough moistened on top with water, then allowed to proof in warm oven:

12:38pm, proofed 1 hour in warm oven:

12:39pm, top of braid when proofed 1 hour:

1:16pm, proofed 1.5 hour in warm oven:

1:16pm, top of braid when proofed 1.5 hours:

1:16pm, melting filling at corner:

1:22pm, to bake at 350F:

1:34pm, baked 12 minutes, top turned golden and liquid dried off:

1:35pm, a very light egg wash of egg white and water applied:

1:37pm, baking resumed, covered with foil:

1:56pm, loaf baked 35 minutes:

2:01pm, loaf's top corner:

2:00pm, loaf close up:

2:01pm, loaf's side:

2:02pm, loaf's bottom:

2:03pm, loaf's heel 1:

2:03pm, loaf's heel 2:

3:00pm, cooled for 1 hour:

3:00pm, cooled height:

3:02pm, interior when sliced:

3:02pm, only cream cheese sticks to knife:

10:23pm, a bite on the heel:

10:24pm, a bite on a center slice:

Observations:
1. This time I chill the cheese filling while waiting for the dough to rise. This may slow down the rise process.
2. To keep dough in warmth after braiding, I brush top of braid with water and then leave dough in warm oven.
3. I cut the stripes too deeply. This causes leaking of cheese on both sides.
4. Putting a loaf pan along side the dough to restraint its spread helps greatly in retaining the final shape of the loaf.
5. Though the filling starts to melt and leak out liquid, that liquid dries off very quickly during the baking.
6. Allowing the dough to proof for 1.5 hours helps the braid to rise. This closes up the holes in the braid. The resultant loaf is very beautiful.
7. This loaf has a rather buttery and crispy crust. The crumb is a dense bread. It's rather soft, and feels a little like cookie at each bite. I love it a lot.