Breakfast Zopf with 4 single Strands
Pane-Bistecca
Zorra from Kochtopf has a Zopf event, called Zopfliebe, hosted by Nadja from Little Kitchen and more. I made a breakfast Zopf for it with 4 individual strands, not the traditional kind of yeast Zopf.
Zopf is a Sunday bread in Switzerland, offered almost every weekend by bakers around the country. On Sunday mornings, people look forward to eating the fresh Zopf, which is traditionally served up with fresh butter, homemade jam and honey. A feast!
I used to bake Zopf almost every weekend when the kids lived with us, but the traditional braiding had to be taught to me by my then young son. He had learned it from his Nonna, my mother. My Zopf is braided with 4 strands, which means that the braid does not become thick at the top and thin at the bottom, as in the traditional Zopf of Switzerland, but it remains the same width everywhere.
Zopf is a Sunday bread in Switzerland, offered almost every weekend by bakers around the country. On Sunday mornings, people look forward to eating the fresh Zopf, which is traditionally served up with fresh butter, homemade jam and honey. A feast!
I used to bake Zopf almost every weekend when the kids lived with us, but the traditional braiding had to be taught to me by my then young son. He had learned it from his Nonna, my mother. My Zopf is braided with 4 strands, which means that the braid does not become thick at the top and thin at the bottom, as in the traditional Zopf of Switzerland, but it remains the same width everywhere.
Ingredients
650 g white Flour (or semi-white flour)
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
1 tsp Salt
7 g dried Yeast
1 Egg, beaten
50 g Butter
300 ml warm Milk
Instructions
1
Step 1
Mix the flour with the sugar and the yeast. Add the egg and turn the food processor on with the dough hook on speed 1.
2
Step 2
Warm the milk to look warm and melt the butter in it. Now slowly add to the kneading machine. Once the dough comes together, drizzle in the salt. Let knead for at least 8 minutes, until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl.
3
Step 3
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place a kitchen towel over it. Let the dough rise for 2 hours.
4
Step 4
Then remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knead again lightly, and cut into 2 pieces. Let rise under a cloth for another 30 minutes.
5
Step 5
Now form both pieces into long rolls, you can achieve this by rolling and stretching, or by rolling out long, flat stripes and then rolling up. You can also cut each piece in half again and get 4 rolls. Now fold the two long rolls in half and put them on top of each other so that you have 4 strands. Or press the 4 ends of the rolls together at the top.
6
Step 6
Now spread out the four strands to make a triangle. You work from right to left. The right strand goes over the 2nd and under the 3rd, then over the 4th strand again. Again you start with the right strand, over the 2nd under the third over the 4th strand. To the end of the strands, press the ends together.
7
Step 7
Cover with a cloth and let rise for another 30 minutes, then brush with beaten egg with a pinch of sugar and bake in the oven at 200° for 10 minutes, then turn down to 180° and bake for another 30 minutes.