Egg-less Yeast Braid
Hefezopf, which literally means “Yeast Braid” in German, is a special kind of bread prepared in Germany, Switzerland and Austrian countries, and is eaten for Sunday Brunch. This bread variant is specially prepared in Southern Germany and Austria during Easter, where people bake this bread and get together for a brunch. ‘Hefezopf’ gets its name from its main ingredient – ‘Hefe’ (which means Yeast in German) and the shape – ‘ Zopf’ (Zopf in German means Braid).
The older population here in Germany say that it is an age old tradition to bake and consume Hefezopf as harvest bakes, which happened to be the only sweet that the poorer population could think of.
It may look quite complicated, but it is very simple and easy to bake. It is a simple sweet bread, which is neither very heavy on your taste buds nor your tummy, and tastes amazing with butter, jam, honey, chocolate sauce, ganache, Nutella or even as is.
In Southern Germany and the bordering Austrian towns, Easter celebration is incomplete without this sweet bread – Hefezopf.
Typically, Hefezopf is made of dough, yeast, milk, butter and eggs. Also, to get the desired glaze golden brown texture of the bread, egg wash is used!!! So, does that mean that a vegetarian cannot taste this amazing Easter bread?
Well, not really!!!
I have tried several alternatives for baking without egg. This Easter bread from me is completely egg free. One of my friend, who has tasted the original Hefezopf baked with eggs as well as the one which I baked, opined that she couldn’t even make out that this bake is egg-free!!!
Traditionally, in Germany, they use a variety of crystallized sugar called – Hagel sugar / Pearl sugar for topping. I didn’t have it in my kitchen store so, I have replaced it with sesame seeds, which give a nutty flavor to the sweet bread, which is ultimate.
Also what is generally used while kneading the bread are the raisins, which again I have opted to skip here due to the lack of stock. You may opt to include it if you wish for. But without it too, there is nothing that you are going to miss for sure!!!
Baking has always been close to my heart… This Egg-less Hefezopf is from me to all of you 🙂
Well, one bread and several names – Hefezopf, Yeast bread, Osterzopf, Yeast braid and many more. Going by the shape, I thought of contributing a name myself to this list – Braided nest bake
Total time: 130 minutes
Preparation time: 100 minutes
Baking time : 30 minutes
Servings: 1 loaf of bread
Ingredients:
Wheat flour / All Purpose flour: 2.5 cups
Milk: 0.75 cup
Yeast: 2 tbsp.
Sugar: 3 tbsp.
Salt: Little
Butter: 40 gms.
Sesame seeds: 2 tbsp. (For topping)
Olive oil: For brushing
Water: 2 tbsp.
Oil: 1 tsp.
Baking soda: 2 tsp.
Method:
Quick Video :
- Prepare the egg replacer: The last 3 ingredients are for the egg replacer. Mix water, oil and baking soda and keep aside
- Prepare sugar, yeast and milk mixture: Dissolve the sugar and yeast in warm milk. Keep aside
- In a bowl mix flour and salt. Add the sugar-yeast-milk mixture and mix well
- To the above, add the egg replacer and mix everything until the ingredients are completely mixed and combine together
- Now add the soft butter and knead for about 10 minutes to form a soft dough. Ensure that the butter is evenly distributed and the dough is smooth enough
- Cover and let it rest for about 45 minutes in a warm place. The dough will raise and appear much larger
- Meanwhile, prepare the baking tray with the bake paper / butter paper and keep aside
- Now, knead the dough again for a minute and divide it into 3 equal parts. Roll the 3 parts into 3 elongated strands to be braided. Braid the strands neatly. Arrange the braid to form a nest shape
- Place the braided nest in the baking tray. Cover and rest / raise for 20 minutes
- Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven at 180 deg. Centigrade
- Brush the braid with olive oil. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over it and bake it for 30 minutes at 180 deg. Centigrade
- Once baked, take it out of the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes
- You may add few colored chocolate pops / gems in the center (As it is attractive for the kids)
Note :
- Egg replacer :
Water (2 tbsp.) + Oil( 1 tsp.) + Baking soda ( 2 tsp.) = 1 egg
- Sugar + Yeast + Milk Mixture : Note that the milk used should be warm, a little more than lukewarm. If the yeast clogs, no worries, keep whisking until the yeast and sugar completely dissolves in milk and starts bubbling
- Olive oil is used instead of egg wash here for brushing the bread. This brings the brown matt finished glaze to the bread. You may opt for butter brushing for a similar glaze but with a shine
Hefezopf stories :
There are several stories surrounding Hefezopf. Let me start with mine first!!!
In my daughter’s kindergarten, they had organized Easter celebrations – Easter Brunch where the parents were requested to contribute one among the following – juice, tea, coffee or Hefezopf. Looking at the communication letter, what interested me was the last item and I checked with one of the teachers who was kind enough to tell me about the Easter customs and Hefezopf and she said, “you can probably opt to bring coffee / tea / juice as Hefezopf is very new to you”. I told her, “I shall try my hand on it and see if I can bake one. If it works, I shall opt to bring Hefezopf.”
That day back home, I quickly followed the recipe that she shared, while replacing egg with egg free options and shared the outcome with her. She was surprised to see Hefezopf that noon and when I told that I baked it, she couldn’t believe her eyes and it was even more a shocker for her when I said that it was egg-free!!! She loved it and I repeated the same for the Easter celebration brunch. It was loved by one and all, especially the kids!!!
Back to the age old tradition, it is said that long long ago, when the husband died, the wife too followed him to the grave. With the time, it changed and just the women’s braid went into the grave, which eventually was replaced by the braided bread which was laid as a wreath on the grave.
Well, with the time, the braided bread became part of festivities, celebrations and holidays, especially Easter. This bread also gets the names of Osterzopf or Easter bread due to this reason.
As is the case, traditions, celebrations and food always go hand in hand. I loved this bread so much that celebration or not, it will surely come out of my oven frequently!!!
Sooper shape.. Nice to see this