There are days when one wakes up like this wanting to eat bread fresh from the oven, warm, soft and sweet. As well as to accompany it with a coffee with milk. The image of a Sweet Bread Braid immediately came to mind with all that delicious aroma that comes out of the oven … and why dream of it if we can not do it? 🙂 Here is the result and I leave the recipe written with all the details and the video as well.
Ingredients for the Homemade Sweet Bread braid
• 650 gr of all-purpose wheat flour (plus 100 gr if needed later)
• 250 gr of sugar
• 200 ml of milk
• 100 ml of water
• 100 gr of Butter or Margarine
• 2 eggs (1 for the dough and 1 for painting)
• 1 tablespoon of Instant Yeast
• 1 pinch of salt
Preparation of the homemade sweet bread braid
The preparation of this bread takes time since the dough needs to go through its process so that it rises well and ferments as it should be. In the video there is 1 kg of flour but use 650 gr and have a little more if necessary until you get a soft dough.
Watch the video with all the details here below CLICK on the image
As I always tell you, I use the machine but this bread can be made perfectly by hand. If you use the mixer we will add all the ingredients: milk, sugar, egg (only one because the other is to paint the bread), butter, flour and finally the 100 ml of water that we will add little by little until we feel the manageable dough Knead for a minute and add the instant yeast.
Note: If you use fresh yeast that from bakery dough, the procedure is as follows: Warm the milk and then add a tablespoon of sugar together with the yeast, and let it rest for 5 minutes until it ferments and then mix it together with the other ingredients.
Once all the ingredients are integrated, it is preferable to finish kneading with your hands, I prefer it that way since I can feel the dough and realize if it needs a little more flour (if it is very sticky) so I told them to reserve 100 gr more just in case or if it is very dry we can add just a splash of water to make it more manageable. The result is that the dough is soft and elastic that is easily detached from the hands and does not stick to us.
The next thing is to let the dough rest for 20 minutes, covered and in a container. After resting we take it out, knead ap
The resting period is super important as it allows the dough to ferment and rise so that it becomes more voluminous and flavorful, at the same time that it will develop all the aromas and flavors of the bread. (1)
Now we will proceed to divide the dough into 3 equal parts (2) and we will extend it with our hands little by little from the center outwards, pressing a little from the center towards the ends (3) I recommend watching the video above. We braid the dough trying not to squeeze it too much but not leaving it too loose. Cover and let the braid rest for 10 to 15 minutes. (4)
We will place the braid on a baking sheet on waxed paper and we will beat the yolk of the other egg with a few drops of water to make it lighter and very gently with a kitchen brush we will paint the entire braid. (5)
Baking the sweet bread braid
We must have the oven preheated to 230ºC since it must be very hot when putting the bread in. Halfway through cooking or a little earlier, we will lower the oven temperature between 180ºC and 200ºC to finish baking without the bread browning or getting too colored very soon.
Tip: when I see that it is browning too quickly, I usually cover it with greaseproof paper (waxed paper) so it cooks on the inside without burning.
Let it bake for approximately 30 to 35 minutes. As I always tell you, time is given by the eye and common sense. Not all ovens heat the same and it may be done faster or slower than with the temperatures and time I gave them. Always look at it from the outside, you do not have to open the oven because otherwise the bread does not rise.
The bread is ready when a few taps with your hand resonate and feel light. It should have a nice golden color without being burnt. the bread is super soft with a delicious flavor.
Tip If you want a much softer bread, put a container with water in the oven together with the bread so that the steam does its job of softening it and leaving a more delicate crust. Or we can also apply the method that I used in the Golfeados
We will remove it from the oven and we will check the cooking from the bottom of the bread also by tapping it to feel if it resonates and we will let it cool on a rack, lifting it carefully. To make it easier for you, you can use these non-stick silicone mats, perfect so that the food on the paper does not stick while they are baking … and now colder, you just have to savor it! Here you can see: MORE BREAD RECIPES
We enjoyed it very much, we accompanied it with a coffee with milk and we did not leave a single crumb on the tray of how rich it was, I recommend it!