The Easter season is approaching and with it many a culinary delicacy. Varying from region to region, different traditional baked goods enrich the Easter menu. Particularly popular at the Easter table are Easter lambs made from sand or sponge cake, Osterpinze or Reindling made from yeast dough. Here in the Tyrolean lowlands, in addition to the Fochaz, the Osterstriezel, a plait made from yeast dough, is also very popular at Easter breakfast.
We at Hotel Bergland, your holiday apartment in Söll, would like to introduce you to our delicious Easter plait made from yeast dough.

Delicious Easter plait recipe

The ingredients for the dough

for 2 plaits

• 1 kg sifted type 700 wheat flour
• 550 g water (lukewarm)
• 150 g fine granulated sugar
• 100 g butter, room temperature
• 10 g natural rock salt
• 20 g yeast
• 2 egg yolks
• grated zest of an organic orange and zest of 1/2 tonka bean
• 1 egg for coating
• Rye flour for dusting

The preparation of the Easter plait:

• Take the butter out of the fridge in good time so that it warms up to room temperature. Then cut the butter into small pieces.
  Now mix the wheat flour well with the water, sugar, butter pieces, salt, yeast, egg yolk and grated orange zest.
• The next step is to start kneading: knead the mixture slowly in the food processor for 2 minutes. Then knead quickly for another 8 minutes to form a smooth, silky dough.
• The dough must now rest for 1 hour at room temperature – please cover the container. After resting, knead the dough briefly in the mixing bowl and then cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 12 hours. The dough is very soft, but becomes firmer when resting in the fridge and is easy to work with.

How to braid plaits successfully:

• Now divide the dough into 2 equal portions and dust with flour. Cover and leave to rest for another 30 minutes.
• Now it’s time to braid:
  Divide each piece of dough into 5 equal parts. Shape the pieces of dough into rolls. On a floured work surface, braid 3 pieces into a loose plait. Twist 2 pieces and place on the plait. Repeat this process for the second plait.
• For an appetizing golden-brown plaited crust, carefully brush the dough with a beaten egg.
• Cover and leave to rise again for at least 10 minutes.
• Now place the plaits in a preheated oven (approx. 180 degrees) and bake for about 35 minutes.

A little tip from our kitchen:

If you want to refine the Easter plait a little, you can add raisins or currants to the dough – simply fold them into the dough as the last ingredient. To decorate, you can sprinkle the plait with flaked almonds, almond slivers or sugar crystals before baking. Once the plait is baked and cooled, it can be refined with powdered sugar.

We at Hotel Bergland, Ihr Appartement Söll wish you lots of fun baking, good luck and bon appétit!

More recipes

Source:
Recipe inspired by the bread baking book “The smell of fresh bread”