Amy couldn't be here on this one. Her new job as a Batman Villain (PANHANDLER) keeps her out on Sundays.
First, we'll examine the evidence: yeast, milk, vanilla extract, juice and zest of 1 orange, sugar, cardamom, vanilla bean shaving, flour and salt. Better throw in a stick of butter and a wee bit more flour just in case.
Combine everything but the flour, salt, and butter in... whatever your largest mise container is. Mine's a measuring cup. Actually, sounds like a great breakfast. Omelet anyone?
Oh, right, the flour.
Form a well and pour in the liquid batter. Then, simply work your way from the outside in, incorporating the liquid into the flour. Easy. Duh!
Or not so much. Notice the composition here, how we've placed the well in the lower left of the picture? This means it was in the past, and it was... unfortunate. I'm reminded of one of the funnier things my youngest sister (9 years my junior) has ever said: "What do you call it when you back into a propeller plane? (pause) A dis-ass-ter!"
Oh, look, the dough magically formed into a ball! How'd that happen? Certainly not by frantically chasing milk and egg across a working surface with club hands, that's how! This is called the detrempe, which means dough.
Next, combine the smaller amount of flour and the butter. This forms the "beurrage", which is French or some other such language for "butter block." Note the resemblance to an actual block.
Did you know: For every stick of butter used in the US, a Dean brother gets a Food Network special. 
Spread the love over the right and center thirds of the rolled out dough. 
Then, fold the left side in over the butter and the buttered right side in over the left. You'll get a dough-butter-dough-butter sandwich. Did you know: You can accomplish the same effect by buttering the left and right sides of the dough and leaving the center bare? Fascinating! (Oh, it is. It is also time for 'Amy's Snarky Comment' time, where I add, have you read the "Butter Battle Book" by Dr. Seuss? Butter the LEFT side, damnit! I said the LEFT!)
You then refrigerate the dough, roll it out, and fold again- four more times. Look how handy a silpat is though! If you don't have one, well...Why?
After the final folding session, let the dough rest 5 hours. Then roll it out again and CUT it. That'll teach 'em to run amock out of the well. Prepare your filling. We chose some apple butter that Amy made last fall.
Spread the filling down the center of the soon-to-be braid, and then fold in the ends to secure it. Follow up by folding a top flap down, then a bottom flap up, and repeat in this manner until all flaps are folded (up or down). Do not attempt to fold a top flap up, nor a bottom flap down. You will rend a hole in the universe which even the gods cannot mend. (Amy 'sez- Joel, would you stop pissing off the universe? It's getting kinda old...)Brush with 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tbsp of water.
Unless you've just destroyed civilization (in which case, congratulations on your opera cake), allow the dough to rise for 2 hours.
Bake at 400 for 10 minutes (which was too high or too long, mine was GDB at this stage) and then rotate the pan and drop the heat to 350 for another 15 minutes of baking (I did ten, because I didn't want a cajun danish braid).
