The combination of the soft, buttery pastry dough, raspberry filling and a powdered sugar glaze makes for a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth treat that can be made all year long with fresh or frozen berries.
By Kelsey Hilts
I love raspberries plain and simple, by the handful, on top of my yogurt, sprinkled on my pancakes, dipped in chocolate…you get the picture! And raspberries are also one of my favorite fruits to bake with. The technique for this braided pastry {along with the sweet dough recipe} came from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook but I made my own filling to incorporate my much-loved raspberries. When I cook with fruit I usually don’t like to add much of anything else. It’s no different with this raspberry filling. Just a little bit of sugar, added to taste, helps the pure raspberry flavor sing. The combination of the soft, buttery pastry dough, raspberry filling and a powdered sugar glaze makes for a sweet, melt-in-your-mouth treat that can be made all year long with fresh or frozen berries. 
Raspberry Pastry Braids
- Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
- Yield: 8+ 1x
Description
Sweet pastry dough, raspberries and a powdered sugar glaze combine to make a melt-in-your-mouth treat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (192g) sugar
- 1 tsp (5g) salt
- 6 3/4 tsp (41g) yeast (3 packages)
- 8–9 cups (795-894g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (473mL) milk
- 1 cup (230g) butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp (5mL) water
Raspberry Filling
- 1 2/3 cups (250-300g) frozen or fresh raspberries
- 1–2 Tbsp (12-24g) sugar, to taste
- 1 Tbsp (15mL) water
- 1 tsp (2g) flour
Powdered Sugar Glaze
- 1 cup (130g) powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp (3mL) vanilla
- 1 Tbsp milk or water (15mL), to consistency
Instructions
- Combine the sugar, salt, yeast and 2 cups (199g) flour in a large bowl.
- Heat the milk and the butter in a saucepan over low heat until the butter melts and the mixture is very warm.
- Gradually add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients, mixing them together at a low speed.
- Once combined, increase the speed to medium and mix for two minutes more.
- Add the eggs and 2 more cups (199g) flour.
- Beat the mixture for two minutes.
- Then stir in enough additional flour (roughly 4 cups (400g)) to make a soft dough.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly-floured surface and knead it for 10 minutes or until it is smooth and elastic.
- Form the dough into a ball.
- Place the dough ball in a large, greased bowl and then flip the dough over so that the greased side faces up.
- Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for one hour or until doubled.
- To prepare the raspberry filling, dissolve the flour in the water in a small saucepan.
- Stir in the sugar and then add the berries.
- Bring the mixture to a gentle bubbling simmer and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes, being careful not to let it boil vigorously, or until the berries cook down.
- Punch down the dough.
- Then divide the dough into four pieces, shaping each piece into a ball.
- Working with one ball at a time, roll it out on a lightly-floured surface into a 12 x 15-inch rectangle.
- Place the dough on a greased baking sheet.
- Spread the raspberry mixture in a 4-inch strip down the middle of the rectangle.
- On the sides of the berry mixture, cut the dough into 1-inch wide strips and fold them alternately across the berry center.
- Cover the pan with a towel and let the bread rise for one hour or until doubled.
- Repeat the process with the other three balls of dough or reserve the remaining dough for another use.
- Once the bread has doubled in size, mix 1 egg yolk with 1 tsp (5mL) water and brush the dough with the egg glaze.
- Bake the bread at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the top is light brown and glazed.
- Remove the bread from the oven.
- Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla and milk/water until it reaches your desired consistency and drizzle the powdered sugar glaze over the top.
- Serve the bread warm or let it cool completely and store it in a sealed container.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 20 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
I do a cherry cheesecake recipe similar to the raspberry. Mine calls for two loafs. The only problem I have is they all for 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. I cook on silicon mats but it still gets too brown on the bottom. I will use your recipe next time. Thanks for sharing.
Hope you try it, let us know how it went!
Do we use a specific yeast or just an yeast?
Im really into raspberries now that I tried a Danish recipe..Question though, I’m sort of new at baking deserts. I dont understand what you mean by cutting the edges in 1 inch strips around the raspberry filling then folding them over the filling.. Why not just fold the edges over the filling? Why cut the 1 inch strips? Hurry ! I cant wait to make this one for the family….
Sounds delicious ! Thanks in advance
John
This looks sooo good! I call these types of cakes strudel and I love them with fruit fillings. You did such a great job with this one, I really like the braid and the raspberry filling!