Fig & Goat Cheese Braided Egg Bread
Servings:
1
prep time:
1 hour 0 mins
cook time:
3 hours 0 mins
Total time:
4 hours 0 mins
Ingredients
DOUGH
-
4 ½ cups all-purpose flour or 575 grams
-
¼ cup sugar
-
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
-
1 ½ teaspoon salt
-
2 eggs, lightly beaten
-
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons water
-
¼ cup canola or vegetable oil
GOAT CHEESE
-
Vermont Creamery Classic Goat Cheese crumbled
4 ounces
-
3 ounces prosciutto (or 1/2 cup shelled salted pistachios, chopped)
-
⅔ cup fig jam
-
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
TOPPING
-
1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water
-
flaky sea salt
-
sesame seeds
Directions
- Combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together in a large bowl. Mix in eggs, water, and oil until dough comes together. Knead in a mixer with a dough hook or by hand on a well-floured surface until smooth (adding additional flour if necessary until dough is no longer sticky). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 1.5 hours, or until dough has almost doubled in size
- While dough is rising, cook prosciutto in a skillet until crispy. Let drain on a paper towel, then chop. Mix fig jam and balsamic vinegar together and set aside
- Once dough has risen, turn out on a well-floured surface and divide into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece out into a 6-inch x 15-inch rectangle. (Use more flour as needed to make sure dough does not stick to the surface.) Spread fig jam mixture over each rectangle, leaving a 1/2-inch seam all the way around. Sprinkle prosciutto (or pistachios) and goat cheese on top of jam
- Brush exposed edges of dough with water. Starting from one of the long edges, roll each rectangle up into a strand. Let rest, seam-side down, for a moment, then very gently stretch each strand out to about 18 inches, tapering at each end
- Carefully transfer strands to a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Position a tapered end of each strand at the top of your baking sheet and pinch together, then braid. (Keep braid fairly loose. If you aren't familiar with challah braiding, watching a video tutorial or two will be very helpful.) Once braid is complete, pinch the bottom ends of each strand together, then tuck the bottom and top ends under the braid. Brush with egg wash, then cover with a plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush braid with a second coat of egg wash, then sprinkle with sesame seeds and flaky sea salt. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top is a deep golden brown
- Let cool on a rack for at least half an hour before serving. (This bread is fabulous if served when still slightly warm!)
