Zopf (Swiss Braided Bread)

I wish I knew more about this bread first hand... sad to say I had to look up info about it online. All I knew about it, when I first made it, was that it was a Swiss bread and like all things Swiss it was simple with wonderful craftsmanship. Zopf is a braided white bread and the first bread I ever made. Let me tell you, this is the type of bread to give a new baker the confidence to make any bread.

This Zopf pictured in the posting is my Easter Zopf. I colored it like an Easter egg and covered it with poppy seeds (to make it look Polish next to the Easter Lamb cake.)

Let me set the scene for this Easter. Family holidays = StReSs! Three generations of women (grandmother, mother, aunts, cousins) all running around cooking and setting the table and running to the store because someone forgot she made pretzel bread on Saturday and used up the flour. The yeast sat waiting a little longer than expected but still mixed wonderfully with the flour. I had time to kill and had the movie GiGi on.

"The night they invented champagne
It's plain as it can be
They thought of you and me
The night they invented champagne
They absolutely knew
That all we'd want to do
Is fly to the sky on champagne"

Oh what a wonderful idea… this isn't call LUSH-ous baking for nothing and isn't Cook's champagne made for those who are cooking for a family meal. So here is how to make Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzoopppppfffffff the bread so easy to make you could make it drunk. (Please have a designated sober baker there to do the oven work, that would be a bad way to get burned.)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp active dried yeast

1 tsp clover honey

1 cup lukewarm whole milk

4 tbsp melted butter

3 ¾ cups bread flour

1 egg

1 egg yolk to brush on bread

Now Make It:

Combine honey, milk, butter and yeast and set aside for 15 minuets, it will get a little frothy.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Make a well and add the egg and yeast mixture. ( for the spring look, I added in food coloring to the yeast mixture just before I added it into the flour and egg. OH yeah and to get the three colors in one loaf I made enough dough for three loaves. )

Combine well and when you have a rough dough transfer it to a floured surface and knead until smooth (get some tension out… Just picture the dough as one of the guys standing in the kitchen eating the carrots you just pealed for the casserole, ass ... OK, maybe not because you don't want to over work the dough).

Place dough in a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it double. (You will know it is ready when it doesn't rise up after you put a thumb print in it. It takes about two hours, this is when you can get your drink on.)

Grease a baking sheet. Punch the dough down and divide into 3-4 equal parts. Roll each into a long thin rope. Bring one end of the ropes together and braid. Be creative. I used a fish tail braid, which required four ropes. When you get to the end tuck the ends under the braid.

Once again cover the bread loosely and let set aside for another 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Brush bread with egg yolk, add poppy seeds if you would like and bake for 30-40 minutes. It will have a beautiful golden color.