Cherry Braided Easter Bread – Kirsch Osterzopf

Name: Cherry Braided Easter Bread – Kirsch Osterzopf
Cook time: 30 min
Ingredients: milk: 250 ml lukewarm; yeast: 21 g fresh; sugar: 75 g; flour: 500 g; salt: a pinch of; vanilla extract: 1 tsp; egg yolks: 1; butter: 100 g melted; sour cherries: 1 glass pitted; egg whites: 1

Cuisine:

Germany

2 h 45 mins
Hard

Ingredients

250 ml lukewarm milk
21 g fresh yeast
or 7g dried yeast
75 g sugar
500 g flour
a pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolks
100 g melted butter
unsalted butter
1 glass pitted sour cherries
350 g (drained)
1 egg whites

Directions

Cherry Braided Easter Bread

or my family calls it “Kirsch Osterzopf”. This light sweet braided yeast bread with sour cherries filling give it such a festive look. It is so delightful and one of my favorite recipes to bake for Easter, but it tastes so good all year round and you can enjoy it for breakfast or with your afternoon tea.

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Steps

1 Done 10 minutes	proof active yeast Add the yeast, along with 1 Tablespoon sugar into lukewarm milk and stir to combine. Let the yeast rest for 8-10 minutes. After ten minutes, the foamy yeast mixture should have risen and have a rounded top. It should look like the picture above.
2 Done 10 minutes	kneading Add flour, sugar, salt, vanilla, egg yolk and using a standing mixer or hand mixer, knead on low speed for a couple minutes. Slowly pour in the melted butter and continue knead for about 5 minutes until until a soft and only slightly sticky dough forms that pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Note: You can mix and knead it up without using an electric mixer, and it might take a little longer. (People used to do it by hand back in the day, and it’s just as easy now as it was then)
3 Done 1 hour	first prove Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand to form into a ball. Place dough back into lightly floured bowl and cover with lid or a clean kitchen towel. Allow to rise in a warm place for about 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
4 Done 10 mins	shaping Drain sour cherries from the juices. Once the dough has doubled in size, transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough into a 45cm x 35 cm rectangle.
5 Done 45 minutes	second prove Divide the dough into 3 equal long strip pieces. Place 1/3 cherries on the middle of each strip. Fold the strips over and press firmly on the edges. so they formed into rolls. Carefully braid dough into a loaf. Tightly seal loose ends. Transfer braided dough to a lined baking sheet. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for about 25-30 minutes.
6 Done 30 minutes	baking Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush dough with the egg white. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.