Braid and Milk Rolls

Breakfast:

1. Put the water, milk and flour in a saucepan, stir cold. Then heat on the stove at medium temperature, stirring constantly, until the mass binds and thickens. Remove from heat and let cool down.

Dough:

1. Put all ingredients – except for the softened butter – as well as the mixed, cooled flour mixture (broth) in a bowl and knead with the dough hook of the hand mixer to form a smooth dough. Then add the butter and knead the dough until it is smooth, shiny and turns smoothly away from the bowl wall when kneading. This can take 5 minutes. Oil a new, larger bowl well and pour the dough over there. Close the bowl tightly with cling film (or cover) and place in the oven for 90 minutes with the lamp switched on. The dough volume must more than double.
2. When the time is up, sprinkle the work surface with flour and pour the dough on top. Flour its surface and your hands lightly and – with the help of a spatula – fold it, lightly plate it, fold it again. That about 3 times. Since the dough is extremely soft, sprinkle lightly flour over and over again so that it does not stick to the work surface.
3. Now cut out 21 portions of approx. 40 g each and shape each into a roll of approx. 21 cm. 3 rolls are always required for one braid. These are placed in a star shape in front of you, i.e. the upper ends are gently pressed together and the lower ends spread apart. Then you begin to braid by laying the right strand over the middle one and over it the left one. Now the formerly middle one has slid to the right and the formerly left one in the middle. So you keep repeating like before until you can no longer do it. The lower end is then also slightly pressed together and bent over so that it lies under the braid and creates a nice finish.
4. Place the braids at a large distance on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, cover with a cloth and put them back into the oven (with the lamp only switched on!) And let rise there for approx. 30 – 40 minutes.
5. When the braids have grown significantly larger, take out the tray and preheat the oven to 175 ° convection. Mix the egg yolk with the water, carefully brush the braids with it (otherwise there will be dents) and then place the tray in the oven on the middle rack. The baking time is between 20 – 25 minutes. The braids should have a nice, golden brown color. If you do not want them to stick to each other in some places due to further expansion during baking, you have to distribute them on 2 trays beforehand.