Christmas Tea Ring with Raspberry Cream Cheese Filling

Steps

1. Mix the water, yeast, salt, eggs, honey, and butter together in a large bowl by hand. Stir in the flour by hand just until incorporated. It will be sticky but should come together in a very soft dough. Set aside in a warm place (I cover mine with a clean, warm, barely-wet kitchen towel) and let rise for about 2 hours. At this point it’s going to be too sticky to handle, so it needs to chill in the fridge for a while – I usually leave mine overnight.

2. Mix filling ingredients together until incorporated. The raspberries will break down and that’s perfect.

3. Split the dough in half and generously flour the outside of each half so you can handle it without it sticking. Gently roll or press on a well-floured surface to form a big rectangle about 1/4 inch thick. I usually let the natural shape of the dough dictate the exact dimensions rather than try to press it and stretch it into something that it doesn’t want to do. If it starts fighting you and pulling back at the edges, it’s probably overworked – just let it sit and relax again for 30 minutes or so. Once you have a rectangle that feels about right in terms of thickness, cut the dough from the edges to create straight edges.

4. For each tea ring, spread a thin layer of the cream cheese mixture (about half of the cream cheese mixture per half of the dough) onto the dough, going almost to the edges. Starting at the longer side, roll the dough up very gently to form a long log-shaped roll.

5. Pull the log gently to make it a little longer and thinner – this makes it easier to assemble in a circle. Cut the uneven ends off with a wet knife so you have two clean ends that will stick together when formed into a circle. Transfer to a baking sheet and form into a circle, seam side down, gently pinching the cut ends together to secure the circle. Chill in the freezer for 30 minutes or so (this just helps it stay together and makes it easier to cut without losing its shape).

6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the chilled dough and cut 1-inch sections around the circle, going almost all the way through but not quite. Fan out each of the sections and push it flat. <– At this point you might feel like it looks terrible and you’ve failed miserably. Hang with it. Keep pressing it, adjusting it, gently arranging it – it will work! So much magic happens once you bake it and top it with the glaze.

7. Brush with one whisked egg yolk + 1 teaspoon milk (optional but pretty). Bake for 20 minutes or longer until the top is golden brown and the inside is just barely cooked through (I prefer underbaking since overbaking will dry it out).

8. Whisk the powdered sugar and the milk together. Drizzle over the still-warm tea ring. Sprinkle with almonds, raspberries, or anything else you like. Serve immediately (SO GOOD while still warm) or store in the fridge!