Description
A sweet bread filled with blueberries, lemon paste, and almonds, braided and baked in a bread pan.
Ingredients
Scale
For the dough:
- 3/4 cups lukewarm water
- 1/2 T instant yeast
- 1/2 T kosher salt
- 4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup honey
- 12 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 3 3/4 cups | 18.75 ounces all purpose flour
For the filling:
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup |1.75 ounces sugar
- 2 tablespoons instant ClearJel
- 1–2 tablespoons Nielsen-Massey Lemon Paste
- 1 cup sliced almonds, divided
For the sugar coating:
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons butter, melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the brioche:
- In a medium sized lidded container, mix lukewarm water, yeast, salt, lightly beaten eggs, honey, and cooled melted butter with a whisk.
- Using a scale for accurate measurement, add in 17.5 ounces all-purpose flour. Mix with a dough whisk until no traces of flour remain. Cover and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours. Refrigerate overnight.
- Remove from refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix blueberries, sugar, and ClearJel in a small bowl and set aside.
- Working on a floured surface, dust the top of the dough with flour and pick up the entire piece of dough. Divide into three equal portions (it’s about 12 ounces each).
- Roll each piece of dough into a log about 10 inches long. Using your fingers, flatten each log into 3 inches wide. Using an offset spatula, spread the lemon paste on each piece of dough. Add the full two tablespoons if you like lots of lemon flavor; add one tablespoon if you like less.
- Sprinkle the blueberries and sugar mixture down the center of each piece of dough. Sprinkle 1/3 cup total of almonds onto each piece of dough. Bring the long edges together and pinch to seal. Dust with a bit of flour to make it easier to roll.
- Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Remove about 1/3 of mixture and spread over bottom of loaf pan. Tap pan so mixture is distributed evenly around the bottom. It’s okay if it gets up the sides.
- Using a pastry brush, cover each log in butter mixture. Sprinkle remaining sugar mixture over three ropes.
- Line up the three ropes; pinch one end of the ropes together and then braid them together. Pinch again at the end. Carefully lift bread and place in prepared loaf pan. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise one hour.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sprinkle remaining almonds over dough, and place pan on cookie sheet to catch any spills. Bake 45-55 minutes. Cool for 10-15 minutes, then turn onto wire rack to cool before slicing.
Notes
Eggs need to be at room temperature for the dough to rise properly. Dough will rise again once baked, so no need to rise more than an hour. I used frozen berries because they tend to burst better from the shock of heat.
Keywords: brioche, blueberries, lemon, bread
