Spinach and Ricotta Challah

I think this is the prettiest bread I've ever baked.  Honestly, though, I stood in my kitchen beaming like I'd sculpted some masterpiece.  This is a challah filled with spinach and ricotta and pine nuts, shaped into a mock braid, and sprinkled with black and white sesame seeds.  When I realized the method for braiding was the same I had used for my Braided Lemon Bread, I dove right in.  Here's a how-to guide.

Before you assemble: Make sure your dough is on a parchment sheet or silicone mat.  Otherwise, it will be almost impossible after to move to the baking pan while keeping it intact.
1. Cut the rectangle of dough so there are tabs on the top and bottom, and evenly spaced strips on either side.  Spread the filling down the middle.  Try to avoid snacking on too many of the toasted pine nuts and depleting them, which is easier said than done.
2. Fold down the top tab, then fold over one side strip, followed by the one on the opposite side, repeating all the way down.  Easy!  So you're either folding left-right-left-right, or right-left-right-left.
3. Before you finish folding all the strips, fold the bottom tab up, then braid the remaining strips over it.  You might have noticed I don't have an even number of strips on each side -- don't repeat my mistake.  If you do, no big deal.  I just tucked the last extra strip under.  Brush on an egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, and you're ready to bake!

Joe loved the bread and devoured it.  I froze the second loaf, because he vetoed my idea of giving it away.  I have to confess, however, that I didn't love the bread as much as I thought I would.  I felt like the filling could benefit from a stronger flavor like goat cheese or feta.  Also, the dough was just too wet and I had to add nearly an extra cup of flour to make the dough come together, even though I weighed the ingredients so measurements should have been precise.  And as nice as the bread was, I found myself thinking the flaky phyllo layers of spanakopita were superior.  Still, all the while, I never got tired of marveling at how pretty my loaves were.

Braided Lemon Bread

Photo updated December 2013

This braided bread looks sophisticated, and tastes even better.  The slightly sweet bread is filled with cream cheese and lemon curd, and it really brightened up our morning.  Here you can see that I switched up my second loaf with raspberry jam instead.  Both are good, but the lemon is where it's at.

The mock braid is easier to assemble than it looks, and I will definitely be making it again.  A dusting of sanding sugar gives it nice crunch and extra sweetness, and that's what I sprinkled on the lemon loaf.  It's not as pretty or dramatic as the white nonpareils here, but it's better taste- and texture-wise.  (Nonpareils will melt in the oven, unlike sanding sugar, so cool the loaf completely, brush with a bit of corn syrup, and then sprinkle.  I still say, go with the sanding sugar.)  Update Dec. 2013: The new photo at the top uses Swedish pearl sugar, which won't melt in the oven.

The dough before and after its first rise.

Like almost all yeast bread recipes, this one takes time.  But it's well worth it.

The dough rectangle is roughly divided into thirds, and the cream cheese and lemon curd are spread with space left on all sides; a bench scraper is used to cut strips at 1-inch intervals; the top and bottom flaps are tucked in, and then the strips are folded over on alternating sides to form the mock braid.

A bench scraper worked great here, creating straighter edges than a pastry wheel would.  I transferred the braid to a silicone mat, but I recommend assembling and baking on parchment (I didn't have any at the time).  Cutting on a silicone mat can damage it, and moving the braid can make it crooked or mess it up.  For convenience, I used storebought lemon curd.

This post was shared with:
Sweet Treats Thursday
Sweets for a Saturday