Soul braid

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 500 g wheat flour, type 550 or 405
• ½ cube of fresh yeast
• 50 g sugar
• 150 ml milk, lukewarm, possibly also 200 ml
• 75 g butter, liquid, cooled
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp water

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 40 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes

Bavarian traditional pastries

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the center. Crumble in the yeast, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the sugar, and mix with a little of the lukewarm milk to form a small starter dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let it rise for 10 minutes. Now mix the starter dough with the flour. Add the remaining sugar, salt, melted butter, and 2 eggs, and mix using the dough hook of the mixer. Slowly add the remaining milk until you have a dough that is easy to knead. The dough should not be too soft. Knead thoroughly on a lightly floured baking board. Divide the ball of dough into 18 equal pieces. Let these rest in a cool place for 15 minutes. Then roll 3 pieces each into ropes of about 30 cm and begin braiding. After 4 braids, fold the inner and right outer strands into an oval. Lay the left outer strand diagonally over the other two. Then bring the strands together again, braid them four times, and push the ends under the braided piece. Place the braid on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the other pieces. I always fit three violins on one baking sheet. Cover the sheets with a kitchen towel and let them rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 160°C (fan). Dilute the egg yolk with the water and brush the violins with this mixture. Place both trays in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the violins are nicely browned. With my oven, I have to remove the trays after 15 minutes, rotate them 180°, and swap the top and bottom positions to achieve even browning. But this certainly varies from oven to oven. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.