Lemon Braided Bread

First, I apologize for the lack of post yesterday. Cliff and I went to Washington DC and New York City for a long weekend and I was having too much fun and eating too much great food that I didn’t get my posts written! Hopefully I can get our DC/NY photos edited and posted soon. I will say though that the 2 days we spent in DC included a trip to the candy store, a bakery, a cupcake store and a gelato store! Luckily for my thighs we walked for hours and hours each day, so if anything I probably lost weight, right? Thanks to our friends Amanda and Kyle for showing us around DC and taking us to so many great places to eat!

As Kelly mentioned it is lemon week here. Lemon is one of my favorite flavors.  I love the taste, but I REALLY love the smell! I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen ages ago and I knew right away that I wanted to make it. The only thing holding me back was the difficulty level. I assumed that anything that looked this beautiful must be complicated. The more baking I do the more confident I am. I’m not going to say this was easy though. There are a lot of steps and a lot of waiting, but overall it looks harder to make then it really is. If you like lemon I definitely recommend making this.

Here's what you'll need

Add the water

Add the flour

Add the yeast

Add the sugar

Stir

Set the sponge aside for 10-15 minutes

Add the sponge to the stand mixer

Add the butter

Add the sour cream

Add the egg

Add the salt

Add the sugar

Add the vanilla

Add the flour

Mix, then set aside for 60-90 minutes

Add cream cheese to a seperate bowl

Add sour cream

Add sugar

Add flour

Add lemon juice; mix

Roll out the dough and divide into thirds

Spread cream cheese to the middle third

Spread lemon curd on top of cream cheese layer

Cut the outer thirds into strips

Fold over each strip, alternating sides

Continue braiding the strips as tightly as you can. This could have been tighter. Let sit for 45 minutes.

Brush with egg wash

Sprinke with sugar

Bake for 25-30 minutes

Let cool for 15 minutes

Believe me, it is worth the wait!

BLOGROLL