From Scratch Mom: Berry Coffee Twist

I love this recipe because it looks so fancy to take to a brunch or dessert event and I got lots of comments on it because it also tastes so good. I'm not sure why its name has "coffee" in it since it has no coffee in it. I guess the same reason Coffee Cake has no coffee in it. In any case, it's fairly easy, if you've made bread before. It just takes a little more time in preparing it. I made it over the Christmas holidays and took some pictures for you to see. I probably cooked this one a little longer than I would have liked, but it still looks amazing. I wish I had taken some pictures of it sliced up because it looks even better in slices on a tray.

The original recipe came out of the Great American Home Baking Cookbook. Here's how I made it:

Berry Coffee Twist

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/4 cup butter

2-2 1/2 cups flour

filling:

2 cups frozen berries

3/4 cup cream cheese, room temperature

1 egg

3 tablespoons brown sugar

icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

instructions:

Stir the yeast into lukewarm water and let sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. Heat up the milk in a saucepan on the stove. When it is hot, take it off the heat and add the sugar, salt and butter. When it is cool enough to touch, you can add the egg and mix it in. Lastly, add the yeast and water mixture, but make sure it has cooled down enough that it won't kill the yeast- just lukewarm. Add the flour and knead. Place it in a greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let it rise for an hour and a half.

While it is rising, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Also, mix together in a bowl the cream cheese and egg. (The original recipe called for sour cream instead of the cream cheese, which can work just as well.)

When the dough has finished rising, roll it out on the counter to a 13" x 10" rectangle. Then, transfer it onto the parchment paper. For easiest transferral, I like to fold it in half and then in half the other way. Then I unfold it onto the parchment paper. Then, with a pair of scissors, make 3" long cuts on each of the long edges of the dough at 1/2" intervals. (Refer to the pictures for better understanding.) Spread the cream cheese and egg mixture down the centre of the dough.

Then sprinkle the berries on top. (I cut larger berries into smaller segments so all the berry pieces were similar sizes. Also, from the picture, you can see that I had separated the dough to make 2 twists, one of them much smaller. The only reason I did this is because I didn't have a pan big enough for the whole twist to fit on. This is not necessary if you have a big enough pan.)

Sprinkle the brown sugar on top of the berries.

Then begin folding. First fold up the end, then begin crisscrossing the strips over the top of the filling. (I've taken several pictures so you can get the idea.)