Making Swiss Zopf

Zopf is a Swiss Sunday bread made from flour, mild, eggs, butter and yeast. Traditionally eaten for breakfast on Sunday mornings with jam or butter, Zopf is a stable of Swiss life. Zopf means "Braid" in German.




This recipe makes two loafs of bread. For this you will need:

1000 g or 8 cups of all-purpose flour
14g or 3 teaspoons of active dry yeast or cube of fresh yeast
3 Tbs of sugar
1 Tbs of salt
150g or 2/3 of a cup of butter
2 eggs
250 ml or 1 cup of milk
And 250ml or 1 cup of water

First start by melting the butter In a sauce pan on medium low heat. In the meantime, add the flour to a large bowl and then create a well with a spoon. Add the yeast and the sugar into the well. Add the salt to the rim of the bowl and make sure it does not touch the yeast.

Combine the water and the milk. Then add an egg to the mixture and whisk with a fork.

By this time, the butter should be melted completely. Take it off the stove and add the water, milk, and egg mixture to the butter.

Now add a small amount of the liquids to the well and stir with a spoon until the yeast dissolves. Continue adding small amounts of the liquids to the bowl until everything is combined.

Cover the bowl with a towel and let it sit for 10 minutes.

Dump the mixture and any loose bits out onto the counter and begin to bring it together.

Once everything is incorporated, begin to need the dough.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Once the dough feels smooth form it into a ball and put it back into the bowl. Cover it with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let it rise for 1.5 hours.

Take the dough slice it into quarters. Roll all these quarters into long rolls. They should be about 30 inches or 80 cm long.

Take two of them and lay one of them over the other one forming a cross.

Grab the two ends of the horizontal roll and cross them over the vertical roll. Then cross the vertical over the horizontal roll below the knot.

Continue this process until the rolls are too short. Press them together at the end.

Transfer the Zopf to a parchment lined baking pan.

Add an egg yolk and one tablespoon of milk to a bowl and whisk to combine. Then brush the Zopf with the egg wash.

Let it rise for another hour, this time don t cover it with a towel.

Brush it one more time with the egg wash and then the bread is ready for the oven.

Bake at 200°C or 390°F for 30 to 35min.