Braided Lemon Danish

Lemon.....oh yes. I love lemon desserts. Dont you? Well maybe you dont. I know my husband doesnt like lemon stuff often. But then give me a lemon poppyseed muffin and I am in heaven. I even made a lemon cream pie a couple of weeks ago. But this recipe comes from the King Arthur Flour magazine. Mostly it is a catalog to buy their products but they do have some recipes in there and this may even be the first one I have tried. I am sure you could find the recipe on their website if you looked.

First thing is if you do not have store bought lemon curd you will need to buy some or make your own. I opted to make my own with some lemons I had in the fridge. I did this the night before so it could firm up and chill before using in the danish. I got my lemon curd recipe from Martha Stewart. To use this recipe click here.

Sponge:
3/4c warm water
2t sugar
1T instant yeast
1/2c all-purpose flour

Combine the sponge ingredients and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Set aside to proof for 15 minutes.

Dough:
all of the sponge (above)
3/4c plain yogurt (i used sour cream....I didnt have yogurt)
1/2c unsalted butter, softened
2 large egg,s beaten
1/2c sugar
2t salt
2t vanilla extract ( i used my homemade bourbon vanilla)
5c all-purpose flour

With your hands, stand mixer, or bread machine on the dough cycle, mix together the sponge with the dough ingredients to form a smooth shiny dough. Allow the dough to rise for 60-90 minutes, until quite puffy and nearly doubled.

Filling: (my modified version)
1 tub of fat free cream cheese, softened
1/2c confectioners sugar (more as needed until desired sweetness)
1/2c prepared lemon curd

Mix together the cream cheese and the sugar until smooth. Reserve until ready to spread on dough.

Now you are ready for the braiding process. The King Arthur site may have pictures like they did in the book but you are just going to have to follow along with my explanation and pictures or find the recipe yourself.

Take your dough and divide into 2 portions. Working one piece roll it out into a rectangle large enough to fit your cookie sheet.

They recommend rolling it on parchment paper to help with the transition to the sheet easier. But I find if you roll the dough lightly around your rolling pin it will transfer just as easily. Now lightly draw two line on the dough that will divide the dough into 3 equal strips.

Spread your cream cheese mixture down the center third of the dough leaving the ends free of filling. Then layer your lemon curd on top of your cream cheese mixture.

Using a small knife or a ravioli cutter make diagonal strips every 3/4in. If you prefer you can fold the bottom inside and keep the look more professional or not worry about it and keep it more rustic looking. Start folding over your strips of dough to form a mock braid.  Set the braid aside and let it rise for 45-60 minutes until slightly risen and puffy.

At the end of the rising process brush with an egg wash and sprinkle coarse sugar over the top. I actually took this from the hotel room we stayed at last weekend. It is not hard to find in stores, but I rarely use it and they had this sitting with the coffee accessories in the room. So we took it home!

 Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

It is important to note here that I only made one loaf of bread. They make the cream cheese mixture spread out for both loaves but they never  give me enough cream cheese to make me happy. So if you like as much cream cheese as I do then this will only make one loaf. So take your other half of dough and place in a freezer bag and keep frozen until you are ready to make this again. And who knows maybe you want to try another flavor. Strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry...or even fig! Have fun!!