Memmingen's sugar bread, Micky's way

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 30 g yeast, fresh
• 150 g sugar
• 375 ml milk, lukewarm
• 750 g wheat flour, preferably type 550
• 1 tsp salt
• 75 g butter, very soft
• 50 g raisins, optional
• 2 tbsp cherry brandy
• ½ lemon(s), juice and grated zest
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 pinch(s) of sugar
• 1 tbsp milk
• Granulated sugar and sliced ​​almonds, for sprinkling

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Rest time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 55 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

not quite true to the original

Soak the raisins in the kirsch (if you don’t like raisins, add the kirsch later with the lemon juice). Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, make a small well, crumble in the yeast and mix with a pinch of sugar and a little lukewarm milk, sprinkle some of the flour over the top, cover the bowl with a tea towel, and let it rise in a warm place for about 20 minutes. (The flour above the yeast should crack.) Then add the remaining lukewarm milk, the lemon juice, the raisins, and the kirsch, and knead, ideally using the dough hook of a food processor (you can also do this by hand, of course). Finally, knead in the very soft butter. Divide the dough into 16 portions, shape into balls, and let rise for another 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Line a loaf pan with baking paper and place 8 dough balls close together in the pan. Cut a cross into the remaining 8 balls with a sharp knife and place them on top of the others. Cover and let rise for about 15 minutes. Then brush the sugar bread with beaten egg yolk mixed with 1 pinch of sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk, and sprinkle with slivered almonds and sugar powder. Place the pan on a rack in the oven (second rack from the bottom), reduce the oven temperature to 160-175°C (top and bottom heat), and bake for 55-60 minutes. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 15-20 minutes, then remove the pan and let it cool completely on a rack.