Directions: |
Directions:1. Make the pastry. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir in a large pinch of sugar and let the mixture stand until the yeast begins to foam, about 5 minutes.
2. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining sugar, sour cream, milk, egg, lemon zest and vanilla, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/2 cups of flour and the salt, and make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture and the milk mixture and stir until the mixture forms a soft dough.
4. Add the butter and mix well. Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead it until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, adding up to 1/2 cup flour if necessary. Form dough into a ball and place in a large greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a slightly dampened kitchen towel, set aside in a warm place, and let it rise until it doubles in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
5. Meanwhile, make the filling. In a medium bowl, stir together the chopped apple, raisins, breadcrumbs, nuts sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and lemon juice: Set aside .
6. Grease and flour two baking sheets.
7. Punch the dough down and transfer it to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes.
8. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to an 18X8 inch rectangle. Cut into 2 9X8 inch rectangles. Place each one on a prepared baking sheet.
9. Spread about half of the filling in a 2 inch wide strip down the center of each rectangle, leaving a border of about 1/2 inch at the top and bottom.
Make diagonal cuts 1/2 inch apart from the filing out to the edges of the dough on both sides. Crisscross the strips over the filling. Tuck the last under and press firmly to seal them.
10. Set aside and and let rise uncovered in a warm place for about 23 minutes, or until almost double in bulk.
11.Preheat oven to 375.
12. To make the egg glaze, stir the egg yolk and milk together.
13. Brush one loaf with the egg glaze and bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. repeat with second loaf.
14. Make the icing by stirring together the powdered sugar and the lemon juice until smooth. Add a few drops more lemon juice, if necessary.
Drizzle over loafs while warm. |
This recipe for Apple filled Crisscross is from