Raspberry and Cream Cheese Braid

This raspberry and cream cheese bread is simpler to make than it perhaps looks. With soft, fragrant vanilla bread and a rich filling of vanilla cream cheese and raspberry jam sweetened with maple syrup, the braid is finished off with a sprinkling of pearl sugar. The dough can be made with either plain (all-purpose) flour or spelt, and there are instructions for making the dough in both a stand mixer or bread machine.

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I am on a roll with my sweet bread at the moment. Last week was from scratch cinnamon bun monkey bread, this time, it is a cream cheese and raspberry filled braid. 

Making dough in a bread machine

There are many ways to prepare dough, and it comes down to nothing more than personal preference. I do have some sensitivity issues, which means that handling sticky dough feels really uncomfortable for me. Plus, I get zero pleasure from kneading by hand, as it doesn’t take long for my fingers and knuckles to ache. I love my bread machine, but went through a phase of using my Kitchen Aid to prepare dough.

Right now, my bread machine is winning hands down. Although spelt flour often needs special settings or adjustments, as mentioned in my post wholegrain spelt: which bread machine cycle is best, the dough making cycle is just perfect. It certainly removes the guess work when it comes to how long you should be kneading or proofing for. Time after time, it creates soft, delicious spelt dough. Of course, there are pros and cons of both stand mixers and bread makers, and to make things a little easier, I’ve included instructions for both.

What is pearl sugar?

My raspberry and cream cheese braid is topped with a sprinkling of pearl sugar. Also known as nib sugar, pearl sugar is often found on top of baked goods here in Sweden. Without doubt the most common way to use pearl sugar is adorning a classic kanelbullar (cinnamon bun). I like to use pearl sugar when I remember it is in my cupboard (yep, that’s my entire thought process in a nutshell), and I have thrown it over everything from Swedish chocolate cookies to apple cake. 

Although not as readily available outside of Sweden, you can buy pearl sugar on Amazon and through Scandinavian stores, such as The Nordic Shop. If you can’t find it, you can substitute it with pretty much any other kind of coarse sugar, or even white nonpareils.

If it comes to the crunch, you could always smash up a couple of sugar cubes. How fun would that be? A great way to alleviate all of your pent up frustrations. Or, for those of you are feeling adventurous, and want to go the extra mile, why not make your own? Milk and Pop have a super simple pearl sugar recipe.  

Because we’re all about adaptability and making good use of what you have, you could just omit the pearl sugar and opt for a light vanilla drizzle, instead. The one I used for my raspberry and vanilla overnight buns would work beautifully. 

Change up the fillings

Although the filling of cream cheese with a touch of vanilla and icing sugar works so well up against the tart raspberries, you could fill this braid with pretty much anything. Sub the raspberries with any other kind of fruit. Apple and caramel would work so well for an autumnal recipe. 

Or, completely switch it up with a decadent combination of Nutella and hazelnuts or peanut butter and jelly. Let your mind go free. There’s very little you couldn’t stuff between soft vanilla bread. I made a wonderful saffron braid for Christmas last year with cranberries and white chocolate. 

Although it doesn’t seem as though there was a lot of filling, especially jam, in the images, there was more than plenty (look at all the squishy jam in the short clip at the top of the page). However, if you’d like to ramp up the level of raspberry-ness, you could easily adapt the recipe and use more.

Serving and storing the braid

The raspberry cream cheese braid needs nothing other than a cup of coffee (or tea) to go with it. Although you could never go wrong with a few pretty berries by the side. The braid is massive and more than enough to feed several guests. I got a good 10 slices from it, and they were big, fat ones. If you slice a little more stingily, you could easily get 12 or more slices. 

I’ve noticed that most spelt bread is so soft right out of the oven, and for a a few hours later, but can quickly lose its softness. To get the most out of the braid, bake it a short while before serving, making sure you give it the chance to completely cool. Somewhat surprisingly (and unlike other sweet breads), this tastes better when the filling is cold. If you are not eating straight away, cover the braid with clingfilm when it is completely cooled. 

If you have any leftover bread, freeze immediately. I cut it up and wrap each slice individually in clingfilm, which makes it easier to take a slice out whenever you fancy.

Print Pin

Raspberry and Cream Cheese Braid

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 egg (small)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 175ml (¾ cup) milk
• 35g (2 tbsp + 2 tsp) butter (chopped or sliced into small pieces)
• 360g (3 cups) spelt flour (see note 1)
• 7g (2¼ tsp) yeast (see note 2)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt

Raspberry Jam:

• 200g (7 oz) raspberries (see note 3)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Cream Cheese Filling:

• 200g (7 oz) cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 35g (¼ cup) icing / confectioners' / powdered sugar

Additional Ingredients:

• 1 egg (beaten)
• pearl sugar (see note 4)

Instructions

DOUGH (see note 5):

Both Methods:

• Add the egg, vanilla, butter and milk to your stand mixer bowl or bread machine pan.
• Add the flour, along with the other dried ingredients.

Bread Machine:

• Set your machine to make the dough.
• When the dough is ready, pour out onto a floured surface and form into a rough ball. The dough might still be a little sticky, but just incorporate more flour as needed.

Stand Mixer:

• Set your mixer going, and mix until all the ingredients are fairly well combined (the butter will still be a little chunky, and that's fine).
• Gradually add a little more flour (if needed), until your dough is still a little tacky, but starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
• Switch to your bread hook (if you have one) and knead for about five minutes.
• Cover and proof until doubled in size.
• When the dough is ready, pour out onto a floured surface and form into a rough ball.

Raspberry Jam:

• Add all of the raspberries (or keep a few for decoration, if you like) and maple syrup to a small pan.
• Cook the berries on a moderate heat until the fruit softens and thickens (about three minutes).
• Add the cornstarch and mix in. Continue to cook for a further two minutes.
• Remove from the heat, and allow to cool completely.

Cream Cheese Filling:

• Mix the cream cheese, vanilla and icing (powdered) sugar together. Set to one side until needed.

Both Methods:

• Roll the dough out into a rectangle. It doesn't matter how big it is, just as long as the thickness is the same throughout. If the dough struggles against you a little, cover it and leave it to rest for five minutes.
• Evenly spread the cream cheese filling in the centre third of the dough (I usually measure and then score the thirds gently with a knife, as this makes it easier). Don't spread the filling right up the top (or bottom), but leave around 1cm (½ inch) edge.
• Dollop the raspberry jam on top of the cream cheese and spread it over evenly.
• Taking a knife or pizza cutter, start to cut strips of around 2cm (¾ inch) thickness down both sides. Don't cut right up to the middle section (where the filling is), but leave a small gap.
• Turn the top edge of the dough over the filling and then starting off with the top left strip, place over the filling at a slight diagonal. Do the same with the top strip on the right side.
• Continue to alternate all the way down to create a criss-cross effect.
• Skip the last strip on either side, and turn over the bottom of the dough (as you did at the top).
• Finish off by placing the last two bottom strips over the filling.
• Seal both ends a little by pinching the dough together at the seams.
• Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 175℃ (350℉).
• When ready, give the top of the braid a good wash with the egg.
• Sprinkle over as much pearl sugar as you like.
• Bake in the lower part of the oven for 20 minutes (start checking at the 15 minute mark).
• Allow to cool before slicing (it's much nicer cold). Enjoy!

Notes

 

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

1. You can use all-purpose or even bread flour in place of the spelt. Just use the same measurements as specified.
2. In Sweden we have something called dried yeast. It is used both in warm liquid to proof and also added directly to flour. I am aware that the US has two options for dried yeast, and I believe dry active yeast is the most similar for the purpose of making this particular bread.
3. I used fresh raspberries, but you could use frozen.
4. Pearl sugar is common here in Sweden. If you don't have access to it, sprinkle over some white sugar (read the main post for more info).
5. I have previously prepared the dough in both a stand mixer and bread maker with identical results. You could also make the dough by hand, but I have not tried that myself.