Hefezopf - Yeast Braid

Hefezopf (In German) is a soft spongy bread. We get it here in almost all the bakery and supermarkets. There are many versions of it like they come stuffed with nuts or have nuts, poppy seeds etc strewn on them. Whenever I see them in the shops I always wanted to try them at home. One day I saw a recipe of its simpler normal version in a german magazine. With the toota-foota german I know, I read it & tried it out. It came out real superb. Infact much better & soft & spongy than the shop-brought ones. I am not a baker very often. Just sometimes I keep trying something. I bake biscuits very often. Cakes & breads very rarely.

So anyone new to the baking field also can try it out. It does not need much of baking knowledge & requires very minimum ingredients.

Here is the recipe for the Hefezopf (Yeast Braid)
Ingredients
All purpose flour - 450 gm
Fresh Yeast - 42 gm
Lukewarm Milk - 150 ml
Sugar - 75 gm
Butter - 100 gm (at room temperature)
Egg - 1 (at room temperature)
Salt a pinch.

For coating
Egg yellow - 1
Milk - 1 tb.sp

Method
1. Take the flour in a big bowl & make a well in the center. Add the yeast crumbles,50 ml of the warm milk & 1 tb.sp Sugar to the flour. Add some flour on the top of this mixture.

2. Close the bowl and leave it undisturbed for about 20 minutes. 

3. Add the butter, egg, rest of the milk, pinch of salt & rest of the sugar to the yeast-flour mixture. Add knead into a smooth dough. Keep the dough covered in a warm place for about 15 min.

4. The dough becomes almost double than before. Knead it slightly once again & you get a soft & fluffy dough.

5. Spread some flour on the working area & make 3 portions of the dough. Roll the 3 portions to 50 cm long strands. Preheat the oven to 175 F.

6. Using the 3 strands form the braids. Place it on a backing tray lined with a backing sheet. Cover it with a clean cloth and wait for 15 min.

7. Mix together the egg yellow & the milk in a bowl. Brush the Braid with this mixture. And bake it for about 30 min at 175 F.

Sending this post to the event 3rd World Bread Day hosted by Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte