Braided Lemon Bread

Last year when I made Lemon curd for the first time, I wanted to explore with it and when I was looking for a suitable recipe for the usage of lemon curd, I came across this awesome recipe for lemon bread in this website.

I have made it a couple of times with a few changes here and there and it’s a huge hit at home..

Ingredients: 

For Sponge :
6 tablespoons warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 ½ tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

For Dough
Prepared Sponge (above)
6 tablespoons hung curd
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1egg,  beaten,
1/4 cup – sugar
1 tsp- salt
1 tsp-vanilla extract
2 ½  cups -all-purpose flour

Lemon cream cheese filling :
1/3 cup cream cheese or paneer ( churn paneer pieces with 1 tsp of water in the mixi)
2 tblsp- sugar
2 tblsp sour cream /hung curd
1tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tblsp- all-purpose flour
1/4 cup homemade  lemon curd  (Refer over here)

For Egg wash :1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water for brushing bread

White sugar for sprinkling

Method:

1. Make the sponge- combine sponge ingredients in a small bowl stirring well to combine. Cover and set aside to proof for 15 -30 minutes.
   
2. Make the dough – In a stand mixer or in a big bowl combine the sponge, sour cream, butter, egg, sugar, salt and vanilla.

Add flour and mix clock wise with help of you palm about 5 min, until you find long elastic kind of texture

and knead on until a soft, smooth dough forms.

Place this dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours, until

quite puffy and nearly doubled.

3. Prepare the cream cheese filling: mix together the filling ingredients (except for the lemon curd) until smooth
   

4. Punch down the dough and roll out into a 10″ by 15″ rectangle on a well floured surface.

Transfer the rectangle to a square of butter paper

(this is IMPORTANT. You need to do this so that you can move the assembled loaf onto a baking trap).

Press two lines into the dough dividing it into three equal sections.

Cut strips one inch apart on the two outside sections. Remove the top and bottom strips so that the middle

section of dough with no spread on it is by itself.

Spread the cream cheese topping on the middle section and then spread the lemon curd over it leaving the top

and bottom two inches free.

Fold the top and bottom middle flaps in. Then begin crossing the one inch strips alternatively to make the

mock braid. (Refer the pictures for this part)

5. Let the loaf rise for 1 hour until puffy.
6. Brush the loaf with the egg mixed with one tsp water, sprinkle with sugar and bake at 180C for 30 – 40 minutes or until golden.  Let cool for around 15 minutes before cutting and serving.