A delicious sweet bread for a wonderful Sunday morning.
Sunday mornings are some of the most important moments for me and my husband as we have the chance to be together after a long week, to chat about small or important things and make dreams and plans for the future over a warm cup of coffee. Of course dreaming makes you starving so you have to eat something too.
Looking on the internet to find a recipe for moments like these I came across the wonderful blog of tartelette and this cream cheese braid caught my eye (I am a sweet dough lover you know!) Of course it didn’t take me a lot to make it. The next Sunday was on my kitchen table ready to be eaten. Warm sweet bread with running glaze and us drοοling over it. I don’t think it took us over 5 minutes to make the half of it disappear. Until the afternoon there was not even a crumb.
The most important thing for me in this recipe, besides the fact that is a very delicious one, is that you make all the hard work the night before, you let it rest in the fridge overnight and in the morning you shape it, you let rise a little more and you bake it. So simple and you don’t have to search for an opened bakery in Sunday morning too (I don’t know about bakeries in your country but in Greece almost all the bakeries are closed in Sundays, at least in small places like my hometown).
If you don’t like the sugar glaze you can spread it with chocolate or you can leave it as it is. Either way is so delicious!!
Cream Cheese Braid
Ingredients
- For the sponge
- 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cup warm milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- For the dough
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 -3 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 oz. (170 gr) cream cheese, softened
- 2 oz. (60 gr) butter, softened
- For the glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- milk
Instructions
1
For the sponge: in the mixer bowl mix together the yeast, the sugar and the flour.
2
Pour over the warm milk and beat until smooth.
3
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
4
When the sponge is ready, attach the bowl to the mixer and add the eggs, salt, sugar and 1 cup of the flour to it.
5
With the dough hook attachment beat the dough until smooth.
6
Add the cream cheese and the butter, cut in small pieces and continue beating.
7
Add the remaining flour a handful at a time and beat for at least 5 minutes more until the dough is smooth and soft.
8
Transfer the dough to another greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 ½ to 2 hours until doubled in size.
9
Deflate the dough, recover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.
10
The next morning deflate the dough once more and split it to 2 pieces.
11
Roll each piece to a “rope”, about 4cm diameter, fold it in the middle and twist it (if you don’t understand this because of my bad English, please take a look at the pictures and I think you will get it). If the dough is too sticky to roll it, do all this procedure to a floured surface.
12
Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper ( i used 2 different baking sheets because they doubled in size in the oven but if you have a big oven and a big baking sheet you can use one) and transfer the loaves to them.
13
Let them rise for 45 minutes. Brush with some egg wash and bake to a preheated oven at 175 °C (350 °F) for 20-25 minutes.
14
For the glaze: mix sugar with melted butter and add milk (one tablespoon at a time) until you get a spreadable paste.
15
Let the loaves cool for a little while and then pour the glaze over them.
16
Enjoy!
Cream Cheese Braid
Ingredients
- For the sponge
- 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cup warm milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- For the dough
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 1/2 -3 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 oz. (170 gr) cream cheese, softened
- 2 oz. (60 gr) butter, softened
- For the glaze
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon melted butter
- milk
Instructions
For the sponge: in the mixer bowl mix together the yeast, the sugar and the flour.
Pour over the warm milk and beat until smooth.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
When the sponge is ready, attach the bowl to the mixer and add the eggs, salt, sugar and 1 cup of the flour to it.
With the dough hook attachment beat the dough until smooth.
Add the cream cheese and the butter, cut in small pieces and continue beating.
Add the remaining flour a handful at a time and beat for at least 5 minutes more until the dough is smooth and soft.
Transfer the dough to another greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 ½ to 2 hours until doubled in size.
Deflate the dough, recover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.
The next morning deflate the dough once more and split it to 2 pieces.
Roll each piece to a “rope”, about 4cm diameter, fold it in the middle and twist it (if you don’t understand this because of my bad English, please take a look at the pictures and I think you will get it). If the dough is too sticky to roll it, do all this procedure to a floured surface.
Line 1 or 2 baking sheets with parchment paper ( i used 2 different baking sheets because they doubled in size in the oven but if you have a big oven and a big baking sheet you can use one) and transfer the loaves to them.
Let them rise for 45 minutes. Brush with some egg wash and bake to a preheated oven at 175 °C (350 °F) for 20-25 minutes.
For the glaze: mix sugar with melted butter and add milk (one tablespoon at a time) until you get a spreadable paste.
Let the loaves cool for a little while and then pour the glaze over them.
Enjoy!
recipe from tartelette (www.tarteletteblog.com)