It's Friday already! I looked back over the years of recipes I've posted here and thought I'd 'flashback' to a recipe post I did in 2009. I had originally baked this for a coffee time with some girl friends where we were celebrating some birthdays...Bev's being one of them.
This was originally a bread machine recipe, but I've made the yeast dough in the bread machine and also using the traditional method of mixing and kneading the dough by hand. Both have the same outcome....but using the bread machine allows you the luxury of the machine doing all the work of kneading and a warm place for the dough to have it's first rise.
Dough:
- 3/4 cup warm milk
- 1 egg, slightly beaten
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 3 cups flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp grated orange zest
- 1 tbsp fast rising yeast (instant) if mixing by hand, OR if making the dough in the bread machine used 1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast
- 4 oz spreadable (soft) cream cheese
- 1 1/2 tbsp flour
- 1/3 cup apricot jam (or substitute with your favourite kind of jam)
- 1 egg, beaten, to brush over the whole yeast bread before baking
- If using a bread machine to mix dough, add all the dough ingredients in order given to bread machine. Select dough cycle. Once complete (approx 2 hours) remove dough, cover and let rest on lightly floured counter for 10 minutes. If using the tradition hand knead method, stir together warm milk, egg and melted butter. In a larger bowl stir together dry ingredients and zest, using instant yeast (rather than the bread machine yeast). Stir in milk mixture and then knead to a soft but not sticky dough. Cover with a cotton towel and set in a warm place to rise for approximately 1 hour. Once risen punch down lightly.
- Using a 9 1/2 inch spring form pan remove the ring and spray base and ring with a non stick spray. On a lightly floured surface roll dough into a 15 inch circle. Lift dough and slide the base of the spring form pan under, centering it under the rolled out circle of dough.
- Mix together the cream cheese and flour and spread onto the dough covering the area that is sitting on the base of the pan. Spread the jam on top of the cheese mixture.
- Using a sharp knife make cuts 1 inch apart around dough stopping when you get to the edge of the pan base where the filling mixture starts. Twist pairs of dough strips together. Bring up to centre over the filling. Secure the greased outer ring of the spring form pan to the pan bottom.
- Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place (I use my oven with the light on) for 45 minutes. After rise, just before baking, brush top of cake with beaten egg. Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes. (or convection oven at 360º for 33-40 minutes) Cover with foil after 20 minutes if becoming too brown. Allow to rest in pan for 10 minutes so the filling sets and then remove to cooling rack. To ice and serve slide off base of spring form pan onto cake plate. Drizzle generously with the following icing once cake is warm or completely cooled.
Icing