Braiding a Yeast Braid – This is How it Works

Braiding the yeast braid – the preparatory work: This is how you prepare the yeast dough for the top

If you don’t have yeast dough yet, you can use this recipe to prepare a moist and at the same time very fluffy dough:

• Mix 500g of flour with a pinch of salt.
• Put 250 ml milk and 75 g butter in a saucepan and heat both slightly to around 40 °C.
• Sprinkle in about 50g of sugar and wait for it to dissolve.
• Add a packet of dry yeast or half a cube of fresh yeast and stir the mixture well.
• Pour the mixture into the flour and mix the ingredients into a smooth dough. If you don’t have a mixer with a dough hook, you can use a fork.
• Dust with a little flour and the dough should just form into a ball. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours.

Step 2: braid the yeast braid

With the finished dough, you can now braid a yeast braid. To do this, knead the dough again and divide it into three equal parts. You can see the individual braiding steps in our picture gallery at the end of the article.

• On a floured work surface, roll all three balls of dough into 3 to 5 cm thick and 30 to 40 cm long rolls
• Place all three rolls of dough next to each other on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Start braiding in the middle so you can braid the braid well at the end. To do this, place the right rolling pin over the middle one so that the two cross in the middle.
• Now place the left roll parallel to the middle roll over the right roll. The middle and left rolls should now be roughly parallel, with the right roll crossing the other two.
• Now take the right end and place it over the middle one in the middle. Be careful to braid the dough tightly but not pull it apart.
• Continue by alternating the right and left ends over the middle to the middle.
• When you have reached the end, loop the last end slightly under the braid and form a round end by gently pushing the dough under the braid with your hands.
• Now start braiding in the opposite direction from the middle again. Again, alternately take the outer ends and place them in the middle. It is important that this time you guide the outer ends of the dough roll under the middle one.
• Finally, push the last end slightly under the braid again and form a nice, round end.

Step 3: Let the yeast plait rise again and brush with egg

• Cover the plait with a clean towel and let it rise for a while until it has clearly increased in volume.
• Before baking, brush the braid with a mixture of one egg yolk, some sugar, and two tablespoons of milk. This gives it a beautiful golden yellow color when baked.
• Now bake the braid at 180 degrees circulating air or 200 degrees top and bottom heat for about 15 minutes.
• All steps can be found in detail in our picture gallery.