Lemon Curd Star Bread - the name says it all. It's a stunning recipe that is surprisingly easy to make. Lemon Curd Star Bread is sure to impress anyone who is lucky enough to have a piece. This show-stopping star bread features luscious lemon curd nestled between layers of easy to make sweet dough fashioned in the shape of a star.
While Susan and I were in Paris, we took a Bread-making class where we learned how to make a chocolate filled Snowflake Bread. The bread was topped with pearl sugar.
Susan and I thought that it would be fun to do a variation using lemon curd as the filling instead of chocolate and topping it with pearl sugar and a lemon glaze. The result was amazing!
Making the Sweet Dough
For the sweet dough, I used all-purpose flour as opposed to bread flour. I included granulated sugar to not only provide the sweetness, but also help feed the yeast.
For richness, I added sour cream, butter and an agg.
The sweet dough is a snap to make in your bread machine. Basically, I added the wet ingredients, followed by the salt, sugar, and flour to the pan of the bread machine. The last ingredient that I added was the yeast. I set the bread machine on the dough cycle, and walked away!
Ingredients For Lemon Curd Star Bread
While the bread machine was doing its magic, I made the lemon curd from my tried and true Classic English Lemon Curd recipe.
This provided the two basic ingredients - sweet dough made in the bread machine and lemon curd! I divided the dough into four equal parts.
Making The Lemon Curd Star Bread
To make the Lemon Curd Star Bread, I started by rolling each of the pieces of dough into roughly a 12-inch circle. The dough had a tendency to spring back when I rolled it, so I would roll it a little bit, let it rest and then roll it more.
Then, I transferred one of the dough circles to an inverted baking sheet that was lined with a silicone mat (Photo 1). I spread the circle of dough with ⅓ of the lemon curd (Photo 2).
After that, I repeated this twice, and placed the final piece of dough on top on top (Photo 3).
Once the star bread was assembled, I trimmed it to 10-inches using an inverted cake pan (Photo 4).
I placed a small bowl in the center of the top dough layer and made 4 equal cuts starting at about ½-inch from the edge of the bowl. Then, I cut each of the four pieces in half, again starting about ½-inch from the edge of the bowl. Finally, I cut each of the 8 wedges in half.
I ended up total of sixteen cuts. At this point, I removed the bowl from the top of the dough.
To turn the dough into a stars, I carefully picked up two pieces of adjacent dough (Photo 5) and twisted them twice away from each other (Photo 6). Then, I pressed the outer edges of the two pieces together (Photo 7). I made sure that the edges were well sealed (Photo 8).
I repeated this with the remaining seven pairs of dough wedges. Voila, Lemon Curd Star Bread!
For the finishing touch, I brushed the bread with egg wash and sprinkled on some pearl sugar.
I popped the lemon curd star bread into a preheated 350°F oven for 23 minutes. After 23 minutes, the bread was golden brown and perfectly cooked.
Making The Lemon Glaze
While the bread was cooking, I made the lemon glaze, which consisted of confectioners' sugar and fresh lemon juice.
I added the sugar and lemon juice to a bowl. Then, I beat the mixture on high with my electric mixer until the icing was smooth and of a perfect consistency.
Finishing The Lemon Curd Star Bread
After I removed the bread from the oven, I carefully transferred it to a wire cooling rack. Then I drizzled the icing over the still warm bread.
Once the lemon curd star bread had cooled, I pulled a piece off for the first taste. Oh my - the combination of the tart lemon curd and sweet bread with icing was amazing.
I served the Lemon Curd Star Bread with additional lemon glaze on the side. To say that the bread was amazing is definitely an understatement. It was show-stopping beautiful. The pull-apart pieces had the perfect amount of sweet and tart and were amazingly delicious. Yum!
For another amazing star bread recipe, check out my Cinnamon Snowflake Bread.
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Lemon Curd Star Bread
Ingredients
Dough
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup water (the egg plus the water should weigh 4 ounces, 114 grams)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons (1 ounce, 29 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (8 ounces, 227 grams) sour cream (See Tip 1)
- 3 ½ Tablespoons (1.75 ounces, 50 grams) granulated sugar
- 3 ½ cups (17.5 ounces, 496 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoons (.37 ounces, 11 grams) bread machine yeast
- egg wash
- Pearl sugar, optional for sprinkling on bread
Lemon Curd
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup (3.5-ounces, 100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ½ cup (4-ounces, 113 grams) fresh lemon juice (2 ½ to 3 lemons depending on size)
- 6 Tablespoons (3-ounces, 85 grams) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Lemon Glaze
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 to 4 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Dough
- Add the dough ingredients to the bread machine in the order listed. Select the dough cycle and start the machine. Check the dough after five minutes of mixing and add 1 to 2 more Tablespoons of water or flour if the dough is too dry or wet. (See Tip 2)
Lemon Curd
- Whisk together eggs, sugar, and lemon zest in a non-reactive saucepan (stainless steel, enameled, glass). Add lemon juice; whisk to combine. Add butter pieces.
- Place pan over medium heat. Whisk mixture constantly, until thickened, about 6 minutes. Continue whisking constantly for several more minutes, until bubbly.
- Remove from heat. Pour lemon curd into wire mesh strainer set over a bowl. Stir with rubber spatula or spoon to force lemon curd through strainer. Discard any bits left behind in strainer.
- Press piece of plastic wrap on top of lemon curd; refrigerate at least one hour to cool completely.
- Yield: 1-⅓ to 1-½ cups.
Lemon Glaze
- Beat confectioners' sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. If necessary, add more lemon juice or confectioners' sugar to achieve desired consistency.
Lemon Curd Star Bread
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Invert a large baking sheet; line with silicone mat. Set aside.
- When the dough cycle is finished, remove the dough and form into 4 balls, roughly 8 ounces each. On a lightly floured surface, roll one of the balls into a circle roughly 12-inches in diameter. Place on silicone lined baking sheet. Center 10-inch cake pan on dough and press down slightly to form a 10-inch circle on the dough. (See Tips 3 and 4)
- Spread ⅓ of the lemon curd inside the circle. Repeat with two more balls of dough and remaining lemon curd.
- Roll final ball of dough into a 12-inch circle and place on top of third lemon curd layer.
- Place a small cup in center of dough. Starting about 1-inch from the edge of the cup, cut 4 equal slits in the dough. Then cut each of the wedges in half, resulting in 8 cuts. Starting about 1-inch from the cup or cookie cutter, cut each of the 8 wedges in half, resulting in 16 cuts.
- Being very careful, pick two of the adjacent pieces, and twist them twice away from each other. Press to seal the edges. Repeat with the remaining 14 wedges.
- Remove the cup from the center. Brush with egg wash.
- Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. (See Tip 5)
- Remove bread from oven; transfer to wire rack. Drizzle lemon glaze over warm lemon curd star bread. Serve warm if possible.
- Yield: 12 servings.
Tips/Notes
- I always use low-fat sour cream when making the dough.
- If you make the dough the night before, coat a large bowl with oil. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. The next morning, remove the dough about an hour before you want to make the snowflake bread to give it a chance to come to room temperature.
- The dough tends to be a bit springy with it's being rolled out. Therefore, I'll roll it out into about a 6-inch circle and let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then, I'll roll it again into about an 8-inch circle and let it rest again before the final rolling.
- Because the dough will be trimmed once the Lemon Curd Star Bread is assembled, the circles don't need to be perfect.
- Once the bread is assembled, there is no need to let it rise. Just go ahead and pop it into the oven, the same way that you would a pizza.
Pam says
Your beautiful narrative for the lemon curd bread is great, but your recipe ingredients revert to Cinnamon Snowflake bread, which also looks delicious. But the amounts for lemon curd would be helpful. Thanks.
Chula King says
Sorry about that Pam. I've made the corrections in the recipe (I use 1 1/2 cups of lemon curd).
Thanks for letting me know.
Chula
Sue says
Thank you so much Chula for rectifying this , I can't wait to make this, this coming weekend.
Sue says
Hi Chula, thank you so much for your site and all the hard work you have done to share these amazing recipes with us. I have one problem, I want to make the "Cinnamon Star Bread", I read through all the directions, but, when I get to the recipe, the recipe is for "Lemon Curd Star Bread" with the lemon glaze. I would prefer to make the cinnamon filling with the plain glaze. I have tried everything to find the ingredients and portions. Could you please check the post. Thanks Sue
Chula King says
Yikes! I have no idea how that happened Sue. I've updated the post with the current recipe.
Thanks so much for letting me know.
Chula
Sandra Crouch says
The lemon curd bread looks amazing, and I will try it this weekend. A quick question, when it says about baking time, a cinnamon snowflake bread is mentioned - just checking that the cooking time stated is the same for both!! Thanks!!
Chula King says
Yikes - it should read lemon curd star bread. I've made the correction. Thanks so much Sandra for letting me know!
By the way, it is amazing!
Chula