Lemon-vanilla cream cheese braid

A light and fluffy pastry, not overly sweet.

Ingredients
dough:
140g flour
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp water
0.25 cup milk
1 small pinch of salt

filling:
4 oz cream cheese
0.5 tsp grated lemon zest
0.25 tsp vanilla
3 tbsp sugar
1 egg white

Preparation
Bloom the yeast in the water with a little bit of sugar. Add the lukewarm milk, egg yolk, salt, flour and sugar. Cut in butter and knead until smooth and elastic. Oil lightly and cover in a bowl. Allow to double in a warm place.

Mix the ingredients for the filling. Roll out the dough into a 0.25 inch-thick rectangle. Distribute the filling onto the middle third and cut the edges into strips. Fold the strips over the top, alternating between the two sides. Brush with oil and allow to rise for 20-30 minutes covered with plastic wrap.

Preheat the oven to 350F, brush the top of the pastry with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for ~20 minutes, until golden brown. Cool, covered with a clean kitchen towel, on a cookie rack.