Almond Raspberry Braid Recipes

DELICIOUS ALMOND BRAIDS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place the almond paste, butter and sugar in a food processor; cover and pulse until chopped. Add egg and flour; process until smooth., Place puff pastry sheets onto a greased baking sheet. Spread half of the filling mixture down the center third of 1 pastry sheet. On each side, cut 8 strips about 3-1/2 in. into the center. Starting at 1 end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling. Pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling., Bake until golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely., Combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and almond extract. Drizzle over braids; sprinkle with almonds. Cut into slices to serve.

RASPBERRY ALMOND TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Cut a 3/4-inch wide strip off each side of the pastry and reserve. Roll out the pastry sheet on a lightly floured work surface to a 10-inch square. Brush the edges of the square with the egg. Working with 1 strip at a time, stand the strips along the edges of the pastry square and crimp where they meet. You want to create a shallow box, where the pastry square is the base and the 4 strips are the walls. Overlap the strips at the corners, stretching them if necessary to complete the walls of the box. Brush the border with the egg. Pierce the center of the pastry all over with fork. Bake until the pastry is golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the cream until soft peaks. With the mixer still running, gradually add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks. Add the liqueur and beat until just well blended; be careful not to overmix or the whipped cream will turn into a buttery consistency and start to separate. Using a large spatula, fold in the nuts. Spoon the cream mixture into the prepared pastry crust. Arrange the berries over the cream. Sift the cocoa powder over and serve.
• NOTE: You can use any fruit that's in season (orange segments, berries, plums, bananas, grapes). Blueberries make a good substitute for the raspberries, and sliced peaches or nectarines are delicious as well.

ALMOND RASPBERRY BRAID

Steps:

• Put butter and milk in a small dish and melt in microwave. Cool to luke-warm.
• Add warm water (between 100-110°F) to a medium bowl. Note: Water that is too warm will kill the yeast so be careful. Sprinkle yeast and one teaspoon of sugar into water. Whisk until dissolved and let stand for 10 minutes or until bubbly and doubled in volume.
• Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, salt, lemon peel, cardamom and milk mixture to yeast. Whisk until will mixed.
• Add flour, one cup at a time, mixing well between each cup. The dough is done when it pulls away from the side of the bowl and forms a ball.
• Turn dough onto a floured work surface. Knead about 4 minutes or until dough feels soft and elastic.
• Oil a bowl big enough to allow dough to double in size. Form the dough into a ball and place in bowl, turning once so the top is coated with oil.
• Cover bowl with wax paper and a towel. Let rise for one hour or until dough is doubled in size.
• Meanwhile, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or lightly grease it.
• Punch down dough. Flour work surface and roll dough into a 10" X 14" rectangle. Transfer to the cookie sheet.
• With the back of a knife, mark the dough lengthwise into three long 14" lanes of equal size.
• For braiding strips, cut the two outer lanes into angled strips a little more than an inch wide. Tip: kitchen shears are easier for this step than a knife.
• Spread the raspberry preserves down the center lane. Slice the Almond Paste into thin coins and lay over the preserves.
• Braid the strips one side over the other, covering the raspberry and Almond Paste. Give a gentle pull to keep the braid neat. Cover braid with towel and let rise 40-60 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F, with rack in middle.
• Whisk egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brush onto braid. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and braid sounds hollow when tapped.

RASPBERRY BREAKFAST BRAID

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Place biscuit mix in a large bowl. Cut in cream cheese and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8-10 times., On a greased baking sheet, roll dough into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Spoon raspberries down center third of dough; sprinkle with sugar., On each long side, cut 1-in.-wide strips about 2-1/2 in. into center. Starting at 1 end, fold alternating strips at an angle across raspberries; seal ends. , Bake until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool slightly. In a microwave-safe dish, microwave frosting on high until it reaches desired consistency, 5-10 seconds; drizzle over pastry.

RASPBERRY-ALMOND BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x5-inch loaf pan.
• Cream sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add almond extract.
• Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in another bowl. Whisk milk and sour cream together in a third bowl. Alternately add the dry ingredients and milk mixture to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry. Gently stir in raspberries and almonds. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 1 hour.