English nut braid

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• 500 g flour, type 405
• 1 pinch of salt
• 75 g sugar
• 1 cube of yeast (42g)
• 200 ml milk, lukewarm
• 1 egg(s)
• 60 g butter, melted
• 100 g apricot jam
• 1 apple (approx. 125g), 1 egg
• 200 g hazelnuts, grated
• 100 g sugar
• 1 egg(s)
• 3 tbsp cream
• 1 egg(s), including the yolk
• 1 tbsp water

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Dissolve the yeast in the milk, pour it into the well, and mix with a little flour to make a pre-dough. Let it rise for 10 minutes. Then add the melted butter, sugar, egg, and salt. Knead the dough with a dough hook until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Then cover and let rise for another 45 minutes, until it has roughly doubled in size. Meanwhile, peel the apple, finely grate it, and mix it with the nuts, sugar, cream, and egg. Roll out the yeast dough into a square approximately 30 x 30 cm. Mark out three 10 cm wide strips on each of these, and spread the apricot jam on the middle section. Spread the filling on top and use a pastry wheel to cut the outer strips from the center outwards into approximately 1.5 cm wide strips. Place the resulting strips over the filling in a braided pattern (alternating left and right, as if braiding). Place the braid on a baking sheet and let it rise for another 15 minutes. Brush with the egg yolk and water mixture and bake at 200°C (180°C fan oven) for about 30 minutes. TIP: The nut braid will keep its shape if you place a baking frame the size of a 30cm loaf pan around it. (For example, the “Marmor Krusti” from Vemmina)