Twisty bread with cream cheese and fruit filling

This soft and chewy bread was given to me by a friend who worked at a bakery while she was on a mission trip in Japan. Japanese people are creative with their baked goods and emphasized aesthetics in their food. It looks like you spent a great deal of time on it but you really haven't. I used to make it at least once every couple weeks when I was in university. It was such a great study snack (especially when the library security guards made us throw away hot/strong smelling food). It is very easy to make and does not take up much time. This bread will definitely blow you away! I absolutely love the filling! Here in the picture, I used blackberry jam, 1 pint of blueberries with a cream cheese mixture. You can substitute the jam with apricot jam or any tangy jam. The cream cheese mixture balances out the sweetness/sourness in the jam.Give it a try!


Bread:
2 tsp oil
2 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
3 cups flour


Filling:
1/4-1/3 cup spreadable cream cheese
1 tbsp lemon juice (orange juice if you don't have lemons)
1-2tsp sugar (adjust according to your liking)
Blackberry jam
1 pint blueberries


Egg wash:
2 egg yolks
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp water


1. Mix water, sugar, salt and oil. Add yeast. Let stand for 20 minutes until yeast is activated (foamy).
2. Add flour and knead into formed dough. Add more flour if necessary
3. Cover a large plate with oil. Place dough, cover with moist paper towel and let rise for 2-3 hrs
4. Preheat oven to 350F and brush baking sheet with oil.
5. Mix cream cheese, sugar and lemon  juice. Add more sugar or juice according to your liking.
6. Divide dough into four.  Roll out dough into a rectangle and cut slits like the image below.
7. Spread a layer of cream cheese filling down the middle. Spoon some jam on top. Sprinkle blueberries on top.

(sorry! I forgot to take a picture when I made the blackberry/blueberry version)

8. Fold the slits from the top in left-right left-right manner.
9. Brush bread with an egg wash
10. Oil cookie sheet and place bread on top. Let all loaves rest for 5-10 minutes before placing in the oven.
11. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove and let cool on wire rack.