"Bread Braids with Poppy Seeds – white, with milk, with soft centre and crispy crust. Poppy seeds give them a very special and unique taste. You can’t help, but to love them."
Ingredients:
300 g white all-purpose flour
120 ml warm milk
¼ fresh yeast cake (10,5g)
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
poppy seeds
300 g white all-purpose flour
120 ml warm milk
¼ fresh yeast cake (10,5g)
1 egg
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
poppy seeds
Method:
- Sift the flour in a larger bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk. Warm, not hot! Crumble the yeast into milk, add sugar and wait till yeast activates.
- Add salt around the edge of the flour.
- When the yeast is activated and foamy, add egg white and bring the dough together. If needed, add a bit more flour or milk. Knead the dough for around 10 minutes, to become soft, elastic and it doesn’t stick to the bowl.
- Leave the dough to rest for around 30 minutes, it depends on the room temperature. The dough should triple in size.
- Gently knead the raised dough, divide it into 3 equal-size pieces and gently roll them as shown in the picture. The ends should be thinner and the centres thicker.
- Weave the braid and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Coat it with egg yolk and sprinkle it heavily with poppy seeds.
- Bake the bread braid in preheated over at 200°C for 30 minutes. I bake breads on a clay board. I place it in an oven and heat it on 200°C, dust it with flour and place a dough on it. After 5 minutes I lower the oven heat to 180°C and bake it for another 25 minutes.
- The bread braid is done, when it sounds hollow if knocking on it. Place the baked bread on the grill rack and cover it with a cloth. Leave it to cool.
