• Starter Preparation for Sourdough Chai Spice Star Bread: With your sourdough starter, you can use active sourdough starter or sourdough starter discard, add one tablespoon to a container that is at least 1-quart in size. Then feed it with water and all-purpose flour. ​Let the starter sit at room temperature for 8 to 14 hours until it is doubled in volume, full of large bubbles, and smells fragrant like ripe fruit. See this post to learn more about what an active sourdough starter looks like. The time range will depend on the room temperature in your kitchen, starting temperature of ingredients, and weather.
• ​Provided that your starter is active and ready, the first step to prepare the dough is scalding the milk. This neutralizes proteins in the milk that can conflict with good fermentation. In my side by side tests, I've seen this make an important difference. Add more whole milk than the recipe calls for to allow for evaporation. Heat the milk over medium to medium-high heat until it is steaming and proteins begin to stick to the pot. Temperature will be 130 to 140 degrees F. Don't let it foam. Transfer 190g of your scalded milk to the bowl of a stand mixer, large bowl, or a separate glass carafe to cool down to 100-115 degrees F.
• While milk is cooling, use a separate large bowl to mix together the bread flour and salt. Set aside the separated egg yolk.
• Once your milk is cooled and in the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add the sugar, 200g of the active sourdough starter, and flour mixture. Stir with a dough hook attachment or with a large spoon if you are mixing by hand for 1 to 2 minutes until ingredients are beginning to combine and it looks like a shaggy dough mixture. Add the egg yolk and continue mixing and kneading the dough until it becomes completely combined and soft. When using a stand mixer, use low speed (I recommend the lowest 2 speeds) to knead your dough. It will take 5 to 8 minutes to get combined and soft until it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Kneading by hand will take 8 to 12 minutes.
• Now, it is time to knead in the softened unsalted butter. Continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated into your dough and it pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl or kneading surface and is a soft smooth ball.
• Place your star bread's soft sweet dough into an airtight container or use a large clean bowl covered with plastic wrap. Keep your dough at room temperature for 4 to 7 hours until it doubles. For clarity on when this stage is done, see this post.

​Shaping Sourdough Chai Spice Star Bread

• The first step of shaping is preparing the chai spice filling. Stir together the ground cinnamon, ground ginger, clove, cardamom, and pinch of black pepper to make the fragrant chai spice. Beat the softened stick of unsalted butter with the white cane sugar until creamy. Add the chai spice mixture. I use a paddle attachment in the stand mixer for this, a hand mixer with beaters would work well too. Scrape the sides of the bowl and the paddle attachment(s) with a spatula and set aside.
• Take the dough to a large work surface and cut dough into four equal pieces. If you'd like to scale them, they'll weigh 205-208g each. Tighten each piece into a ball and set to side.
• Put a large sheet of parchment paper next to your work area.
• Lightly flour the work area then take the first piece of dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large even circle that is about 12 inches across. Pick up the rolled dough and carefully transfer onto the parchment paper. Use 50g (place whole bowl on a scale, tare scale, then watch the negative number to see how much you've used) of the chai spice sugar filling to spread over the circle evenly, leave about 1-inch at the edge of the circle uncovered. Roll out the second piece of dough on the lightly floured work surface into the same size 12-inch circle and place on top of the first circle of dough and filling, make the edges of the circles meet together as best you can. Top with 50 more grams of chai spice filling, leaving edges uncovered. Roll out the third piece of dough. Put on top of the other two pieces and top with same 50g amount of the chai spice filling. *Note: unlike my other star bread recipes, I reserved the last small portion of filling for the very top. Usually the very top layer is not covered with filling. Roll out the final piece of dough into the 12-inch circle and place on top. Spread the rest of the chai spice filling evenly in a thin layer on top of the dough. This extra topping, creates a beautiful look of sparkly cinnamon sugar and spices in the final bread.
• Use a small biscuit cutter or circle cutter on the top center of the layers of dough. Use a large sharp knife to cut the dough into 16 equal sections from the circle cutter out like rays, leaving the center of the circle under the biscuit cutter intact. Start by cutting from the center biscuit cutter out in 4 equal sections so the quarters are evenly divided like a compass. Then cut each fourth into equal pieces by cutting in half from the biscuit cutter to the outside edge of the dough. Cut each of these halves into halves again. This creates the 1/16 sections needed. Repeat with the other fourths of dough until there are 16 equally sized sections of dough radiating around the center. Take two sections, one in each hand, and rotate outward 2-3 times then pinch the ends together into a point. Repeat with the next two and so on until all the sections have been twisted two by two to create the star shape. Remove biscuit cutter and cover shaped star bread with plastic wrap to proof.
• This dough needs to proof for 1.5 to 4 hours at room temperature to 1.5 times to double in volume.
• After your dough has proofed, preheat your oven to 365 degrees F. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown all over.
• Move baked bread to wire rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
• While bread is cooling, an optional extra step is making a sweet glaze with powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. Whisk the powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and 1 t. milk in a small bowl until it is a drizzling consistency, when you lift the whisk and move it back and forth over the bowl, it should create lines of icing that are defined then melt into the glaze. Add 1 teaspoon of milk more at a time and whisk well for 1 to 2 minutes to avoid adding the liquid too quickly.
• Place the star bread on a serving platter or cutting board. Make sure the bread is cool so the glaze doesn't melt into it. Then glaze with sweeping back and forth motions with the glaze to create a festive look. Cut into wedges and serve to your excited guests!