Hefezopf Recipe | German Braided Sweet Bread
Hefezopf is a soft, lightly sweet German braided yeast bread made with flour, milk, fresh yeast, butter, sugar, vanilla sugar, egg, and lemon zest. Brushed with egg wash and topped with sliced almonds or pearl sugar, this golden bread is perfect for breakfast, brunch, Easter, holidays, or Kaffee und Kuchen.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 500 g wheat flour Type 405 or Type 550
- 80 g sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- A little grated organic lemon zest
- 80 g soft butter
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cube fresh yeast
- 250 ml milk
- 50 g raisins or sultanas optional
For Brushing
- 1 egg yolk
- A little milk
For Topping
Instructions
- Warm the milk until lukewarm. Dissolve the fresh yeast in the milk.
- Add the flour, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, lemon zest, butter, and egg to a large mixing bowl.
- Add the yeast-milk mixture.
- Knead well until a smooth, elastic dough forms.
- Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 80 to 90 minutes.
- Knead the dough once more.
- Divide the dough into three equal pieces and shape each piece into a long rope.
- Braid the three ropes together to form a loaf.
- Carefully place the braid on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cover and let rise again for about 30 to 40 minutes.
- Whisk the egg yolk with a little milk and brush the mixture over the braid.
- Sprinkle with pearl sugar or sliced almonds.
- Preheat the oven to about 200°C / 390°F.
- Bake for about 30 minutes. After 20 minutes, cover the braid loosely with aluminum foil if it is browning too quickly.
- Let cool before slicing.