Traditional German Easter Braid

Traditional German Easter Braid

In Germany, Easter Sunday breakfast usually includes a Hefezopf. With or without filling, the sweet braid can be enjoyed with butter and jam and is often decorated with colored eggs. In Germany, Easter is almost as important an event as Christmas. More than a month before the date, supermarkets are filled with chocolate bunnies, eggs and sheep, and shops sell decorative items with the same motifs. In addition to Good Friday, there is another public holiday here, Ostermontag (Easter Monday), which means that families have more time to get together and, of course, sit down at the table together.




Good Friday is the day to eat fish, just like in Brazil. On Easter Sunday it is customary to prepare lamb dishes, and many families have a long breakfast or brunch before handing out the chocolate eggs.

In addition to the tradition of painting hard-boiled eggs – here is a specific paint for this – and the Osterlamm (Easter lamb), a cake in the shape of a lamb, it is tradition to serve a Hefezopf or Osterzopf in the morning – a sweet bread in the shape of braid.

The basic recipe, covered in sugar, can be eaten with butter or jam. There are variants with an almond coating or filled with raisins, chocolate, marzipan, apricot, among others. Due to the fresh yeast, the dough is fluffy and airy. It is brushed with egg before going into the oven, which gives it a nice golden look.

Hefezopf is usually made the day before Easter, as are hard-boiled, colored eggs, which are often used to decorate the plait. Sweet bread is also often served on New Year’s Eve. Learn the classic recipe:

ingredients

250ml of milk

20 g of fresh brewer’s yeast

75 g of sugar

1 egg

1.5 teaspoon salt

500 g of soft wheat flour

75 g of butter

2 tablespoons of icing sugar

Method of preparation

Heat the milk until lukewarm. Break the yeast into a small bowl and mix well with a little warm milk and the sugar. Beat the egg. Place 3 tablespoons of refrigerated beaten egg in a covered container.

Add the rest of the beaten egg, the rest of the milk, salt and flour to the yeast mixture and beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about 3 minutes. Increase the speed and beat for another five minutes. Gradually add the diced butter and beat for another five minutes until a homogeneous mass is obtained. If desired, add raisins or chocolate chips to the dough.

Cover the bowl with the dough with a damp cloth and let it rest at room temperature for an hour.

Work the dough on a lightly floured surface. Divide it into three and let it rest covered for another ten minutes.

With three thirds of the dough form three rolls of about 40 cm in length each. Interlace them without tightening too much. Place the braid on a baking sheet covered with baking paper, cover it and let it rest for another 45 minutes.

Brush braid with cooled egg. Dust with icing sugar (and almond flakes, if desired) and bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 25 minutes. If browning too quickly, cover with aluminum foil for the last ten minutes.

Source: Terra

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