Swiss Butter Plait with Poppy Seeds
Da Cipriano Taste Journal
Swiss Butter Plait
with Poppy Seeds
A traditional Swiss butter plait with a soft, tender crumb, a beautifully braided shape and a delicate topping of poppy seeds.
Traditional Swiss baking
Soft, buttery and beautifully braided
Swiss butter plait, known as Zopf, is traditionally served for breakfast or brunch. This version is made especially decorative with small dough roses and a generous sprinkling of poppy seeds. It is wonderful served fresh with butter, jam, honey or cheese.
Ingredients
- Milk 500 ml
- Butter 100 g
- Fresh yeast 25–30 g
- Egg 1
- Egg yolk 1
- White flour 1 kg
- Sugar 1 pinch
- Salt 1 tbsp
- Poppy seeds for topping
Method
- Melt the butter gently in a saucepan. Do not allow it to become too hot. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add the cold milk and a pinch of sugar. Crumble in the fresh yeast and stir until completely dissolved. The mixture should now be pleasantly lukewarm.
- Place the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the whole egg and pour in the butter, milk and yeast mixture.
- Mix well, then knead until the dough is smooth, soft and elastic.
- Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for approximately 1½ hours, or until doubled in size.
- Divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll each piece into a long strand. Cover the strands with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and leave them to rest for 5 minutes.
- Arrange the strands diagonally on the work surface and braid them into two plaits.
- Use any remaining dough to form small roses. Place them on the plaits and secure them with a little egg yolk.
- Mix the egg yolk with a few drops of water and whisk well. Brush the plaits with the egg wash.
- Leave the plaits to rest in a cool place for 30–60 minutes. Sprinkle generously with poppy seeds.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan or 200°C conventional heat. Brush the plaits once more with egg wash.
- Bake in the lower part of the oven for 50–60 minutes, until deeply golden and fully baked.
- To test, tap the underside of the bread. It should sound hollow. Transfer the plaits to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
Baking tip
If the plaits become too dark before the end of the baking time,
cover them loosely with aluminium foil.
