Filled yeast plait according to Aunt Juliana

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 400 g flour (type 405 or 550)
• 100 g butter or margarine, melted, cooled
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp, leveled salt
• 100 ml milk, lukewarm
• 1 cube of yeast
• 200 g hazelnuts or almonds, ground
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder, unsweetened
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp milk
• Flour for the work surface
• egg yolk for brushing
• possibly milk for brushing
• 200 g icing sugar, if desired
• 3 tbsp water, if necessary

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 30 minutes

Nut or almond braid

For the dough, crumble the yeast into 100 ml of lukewarm milk and dissolve. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Then add the yeast and milk mixture, stir briefly with a little flour from the edge, and let it rise for about 20 minutes to make the pre-dough. The pre-dough should have doubled in volume. When it has increased significantly, add the melted and cooled butter to the flour and yeast mixture and knead everything with a dough hook or by hand until you have an elastic dough. If the dough is too stiff, just add lukewarm milk a little at a time until you have an elastic dough. Kneading time by hand is about 20 minutes. In a food processor, it takes about 5-7 minutes. When the dough has no dry spots and everything is well combined, cover and let it rest in a warm place for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the filling. Mix the almonds or hazelnuts with the sugar, cocoa, and cinnamon in a bowl and stir in the milk until you get a stiff paste. Use the milk sparingly; the mixture shouldn’t be wet, just slightly smooth (otherwise, the filling might leak out). By now, the dough should have doubled in size. Knead the dough again on a floured surface and roll it out very thinly to approximately 30 x 40 cm. Spread the filling onto the yeast dough and roll the dough up starting from the wide side. Cut the roll lengthwise and braid them together, keeping the cut edges on top. Place the finished plaited loaf on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and let it rise for about 45 minutes, until it has doubled in size again. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C (top/bottom heat). Once the dough has risen, bake in the lower third of the oven for 40 minutes. If you like, you can brush the braid with an egg yolk and milk mixture just before baking for a nice color. After it has cooled, you can decorate the braid with icing (mix 200 g of powdered sugar with 3 tablespoons of water).