Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Cream Cheese-Cherry Braid...

FOR MORE KITCHEN TIP TUESDAYS, VISIT TAMMY'S RECIPES!
And for more TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAYS, VISIT BLESSED WITH GRACE!
And for more TASTY TUESDAY, VISIT FOREVERWHEREVER!
Today was a good day for peeking in my oven, wanna see?

When it comes to sweets, I just can't get enough! ;-)

But I'm seriously trying to work on my 'white sugar consumption' so I put that new practice into play with this recipe!







Here's the original recipe and a little more instructions.
And here's how I made it, making adjustments with some wheat flour and cane sugar, etc.

Sponge:
1 tablespoon instant yeast1 tablespoon cane sugar1 1/2 cup warm milk 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough:
2 eggs,1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, 1/3 cup cane sugar, 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
Cherry Filling (or blueberry or apple or?)
2 cups cherries, 1/3 cup cane sugar1/4 cup arrowroot (or cornstarch), 2 tablespoons lemon juice
Egg Glaze
1 egg1 tablespoon milk

Cream Cheese Filling
1pkg cream cheese, 1/4 cup cane sugar,1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract,1 tablespoon egg glaze

The directions I followed as per original:
For the sponge: mix the sugar, yeast, and flour together in bowl. Pour in the warm milk. Beat until smooth, then cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 1/2 hour.
Add the eggs, salt, sugar, and one cup of the flour to the sponge. Beat until smooth. Then add the butter in small chunks and beat well. Add the remaining flour a handful at a time and mix in until a soft but kneadable dough is achieved and the butter thoroughly incorporated.
Knead the dough by hand or with a mixer until it is smooth and satiny, about 5 minutes.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise and room temperature until doubled in size, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Deflate the dough, recover the bowl, and refrigerate overnight.
The next day, make the fillings before shaping the loaves.
Blueberry Filling: combine all of the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and let cool.Egg Glaze: combine the egg and milk in a bowl and beat until combined.Cream Cheese Filling: combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until combined
Once your filling has cooled off, take the dough out of the refrigerator and gently deflate it. Divide it into two pieces. Use a rolling pin to shape each piece into a thin (1 cm.) rectangle.
Spread your fillings in the center of the dough.
At an angle, slice the sides of the dough into tabs approximately 1 inch wide.
Alternating from side to side, fold the pieces in over the filling. When possible, gentle press on the tabs to seal the folds.
After it has been fully folded, glaze the braid with egg wash. Cover loosely with plastic (I place the entire baking pan in a clean kitchen garbage bag). Set aside to rise until doubled in size, approximately 45 minutes. While it is rising, preheat the oven to 350.
Just before placing the braid in the oven, glaze it again with any remaining egg wash. Bake on the center rack of the oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes, rotating it once after 20 minutes so that it bakes evenly. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool for at least half an hour before slicing.

11 comments:

Samantha said...

Love sweet treats, this looks delicious ! Cant wait to try it,
thanks so much for sharing. Have a very blessed day !

Kristen said...

How beautiful! Looks delicious - I might have to try making these!

Lisa@BlessedwithGrace said...

Wow! Looks great and sounds wonderful! I am so glad you are joining us for Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. Thanks for the recipe.

SnoWhite said...

awesome. My hubby LOVES cherries... we'll have to give it a try.

Anonymous said...

You are an amazing cook and I wish you lived next to me so I could stop over all the time! That is beautiful and I'm sure it tastes great! Cream cheese is a winner in my book! Thanks for joining us today and bringing this great recipe! Your photos might send people over the edge before dinner!
~Kim

Deanna said...

Oh my mouth was watering when I read the words, "cream cheese"! Yummy!

Anonymous said...

This looks absolutely delicious. I am not a big fan of cherries, but I am going to have to try this recipe. It looks heavenly.

annies home said...

Sounds great. Wait a minute yes I can smell it now Lol thanks for great recipe

Brenda said...

Looks really good, I am sure its worth the effort

Anonymous said...

beatiful!!

Abbi said...

Oh that looks good!