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When I was a child, my mum made a braided yeast bun almost every weekend. When on Saturday evening the smell of freshly baked yeast dough wafted through the house, we knew that we were in for a treat. Unfortunately, waiting wasn’t a strength of any of us and more often than not, somebody (usually my dad) stole a piece of the bun before it had even cooled off!

When I was old enough to bake myself, Mum gave me her recipe which I still think is the best. There are many variations to braided yeast buns: you can make them with raisins, nuts or different flavours, add fillings and form them not only like a braid but in many different shapes.

The classic braided yeast bun, however, is my favourite and I love making it for my family.

Braided yeast bun

Ingredients

750 g all-purpose flour (I usually use spelt, but wheat is also ok)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 pinch of salt
1/4 l lukewarm milk
7 g dried yeast or 40 g fresh yeast
100 g soft butter
3 eggs, medium size
1/2 tbsp grated lemon or orange zest
100 g raisins OR 100 g almond slivers (both optional)

Instructions

1. If you use fresh yeast, activate it by crumbling it into a bowl, adding the sugar and a bit of the lukewarm milk. Stir until it’s dissolved and let it rest for 10 – 15 minutes until you can see air bubbles and the liquid starts to expand.
2. Sieve the flour into a bowl and mix it with sugar and salt. If you use the dry yeast, add it to the dry ingredients, otherwise, add the activated fresh yeast. Dissolve the butter in the (remaining) milk, add the liquid and 2 eggs to the flour and mix it well.
3. 
   Knead the dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. My mom always said: “It has to lay in the bowl like a freshly bathed baby!”
4. Put the dough into a bowl, cover it with a cloth and let it rest for one hour until it has risen well. Divide the dough into two pieces, the smaller one about one-third of the whole. Divide each dough piece into three parts, roll them into “cords” and make a large and a smaller braid.
5. Preheat the oven to 200 °C /fan oven 180 °C. Cover a baking tray with baking parchment and set the larger braid onto the tray. Put the smaller one on top, cover the bun with a cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes.
6. Brush the whole braid with the beaten egg. You can now sprinkle it with sugar crystals or almond slivers or leave it like that.
7. Bake the braided yeast bun for 40 – 50 minutes.