Orange Marmalade & Blueberry Bread

At least three or four catalogs are delivered to my apartment in a week. Although most of them are immediately thrown away into the recycle bin, a few catalogs always survive. One of the survivor is catalog from King Arthur Flour (www.kingarthurflour.com).

King Arthur Flour catalog always introduces one or two great recipe ideas. Several months ago, I saw Braided Lemon Bread recipe - beautifully braided bread filled with tangy cream cheese and lemon curd. (To see the recipe, please click here.) I wanted to try the bread someday... And, finally, this afternoon, after realizing that breakfast bread had run out, I decided to make the braided bread for tomorrow's breakfast.

I have pretty much all the ingredients except lemon curd. Of course, I can make lemon curd..., but why bother? I can simply replace it with something else. I found a box of blueberry that I need to eat soon. And also, I know blueberry goes really well with orange. Yes, the sweet but not overly sweet orange marmalade and blueberry will make a great filling!

Orange Marmalade and Blueberry Bread
(Yield: one 13-inch-long loaf of bread / Cooking time: 3 hours)
adopted and modified from King Arthur Flour Braided Lemon Bread recipe.

Ingredients:
Sponge
+ 6 Tbsp warm water (~110°F/43°C)
+ 1 tsp sugar
+ 1.5 tsp instant dry yeast (~4.7g)*
+ 1/4 cup all-purpose flour


Dough
+ all of the sponge
+ 6 Tbsp plain Greek yogurt
+ 1/2 stick unsalted butter (=4 Tbsp), softened
+ 1 large egg, beaten
+ 1/4 cup sugar (~50g)
+ 1 tsp salt
+ 1 tsp vanilla extract
+ 2.5 cup all-purpose flour (~300g)
+ egg wash for brushing


Filling
+ 1/3 cup cream cheese, softened
+ 2 Tbsp sugar
+ 2 Tbsp sour cream
+ 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
+ 1/4 cup orange marmalade
+ 1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and patted dry with paper towels


* When you use instant dry yeast, use 40% of the amount of fresh yeast (in terms of the weight). If you use active dry yeast, use 50% of the amount of fresh yeast, and you must dissolve active dry yeast in warm (110°F/43°C) water.

Procedures:
1. First, make sponge. Mix all the ingredients for sponge (warm water, sugar, yeast, and flour) in a small bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. After 10-15 minutes, you should see the mixture gain some volume with bubbles.


2. In a big mixing bowl or stand mixer, combine all the ingredients under "dough" (except the egg wash for brushing). When all the ingredients are combined, kneed the dough until soft, smooth dough forms, for about 5~6 minutes on speed 2 of stand mixer.


3. Lightly grease a bowl with oil and place the kneaded dough. Cover with plastic wrap, and let the dough rise until it nearly doubles in volume. (1~1.5 hours).


4. While the dough is rising, prepare the cream cheese filling. Combine cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, and flour in a small bowl. Mix well until you don't see any lumps.


5. Prepare two sheets of parchment paper in 10"x15" size. When the dough has doubled in volume, place the dough between the two sheets of parchment papers, and roll out the dough into a 10"x15" rectangle. Set aside the dough for about 10-15 minutes to relax the gluten.




6-1. Remove the top parchment paper, and gently mark two lines down the dough so that the dough is divided into three 3.3"x15" rectangles.

6-2. Cut off each corner by 1"x3"

6-3. Spread cream cheese filling (from #4) over the center of the dough.

6-4. Spread orange marmalade on top of the cream cheese, and sprinkle the blueberries on top.








7-1. Cut the right and left parts of the dough into 1" wide strips with a bench knife.

7-2. First, fold down the top strip over the filling.

7-3. Draw the first strip over the filling towards the other side of the dough at an angle. It should cover the lower side of the folded-down top strip.

7-4. Draw the first opposite strip inward at an angle. Continue braiding...

7-5. When there are two strips left from each side, fold up the bottom strip.

7-6. Finish folding over the side strips, covering the end piece and sealing it in place.




8. Place the braided dough over the baking sheet with the parchment paper. Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise again for 45~50 minutes, or until it becomes quite puffy.


9. When the second rising (#8) is almost done, preheat your oven to 375°F(190°C).

10. When the dough is ready to bake, brush the top and side of the dough with egg wash. Bake for 25-30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the loaves are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 15-20 minutes before serving.



Enjoy~