Zopf - Swiss Sunday bread

Name: Zopf - Swiss Sunday bread
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 500 grams strong white flour; 1 tsp salt; 75 grams unsalted butter, softened; 7 grams instant yeast; 250 ml milk, lukewarm; 1 egg

hulajules @cook_3376105

Zopf is a traditional Swiss bread, a delicious enriched dough which is traditionally served for Sunday breakfast but is savoury enough to be used for sandwiches too.

hulajules @cook_3376105

Zopf is a traditional Swiss bread, a delicious enriched dough which is traditionally served for Sunday breakfast but is savoury enough to be used for sandwiches too.

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Ingredients

500 gramsstrong white flour
1 tspsalt
75 gramsunsalted butter, softened
7 gramsinstant yeast
250 mlmilk, lukewarm
1egg

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Steps

1

Put the flour into a large bowl and add the salt to one side of the flour, the yeast on the opposite side, and the butter (chopped into chunks) into the middle.
2

Pour in three quarters of your warm milk into the flour and work it into a rough dough, adding the rest of the milk as needed. Make sure you work the butter through the dough.
3

Tip your rough dough onto a clean surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, until the dough has formed a smooth skin and is pliable enough that you can stretch it out thinly enough to see light through it without the dough tearing (the window pane effect)
4

Rinse out your original bowl and then lightly oil the inside of the bowl and put your dough inside to rise. Place a damp cloth over the bowl to stop a skin from forming on the dough.
5

Once the dough has risen to double the original size (this will take at least an hour) divide your dough in half and then roll into two long strands. Cross the strands over each other to make a + shape, then braid the dough by folding each strand over. e.g. If your North/South strand is the base, fold the ends over so South now points North and vice versa, then do the same for your East/West strand. As you do this, the braid will form and you can eventually tuck the ends together.
6

Put your braided loaf onto a lined baking tray and place inside a plastic bag to prove for another hour. Meanwhile, remember to preheat your oven to 200° Celsius
7

When the dough has doubled in size, crack your egg into a small bowl or mug, lightly whisk and then brush over the outside of the bread.
8

Bake at 200° for ~ 30 minutes or until the crust is a deep golden brown. The egg will make it brown more quickly, so I don't use the top element in the oven when baking this bread. Cool the bread on a wire rack, and then enjoy!