#züpfe

Switzerland is famous of being political neutral and has the closest governance to direct democracy. The country is lead by a seven-member executive council. Changes to the law can request a referendum. Citizen can also challenge any law passed by parliament if they gather 50,000 signatures against a law, which triggers a national vote.

Switzerland is also famous for mountains which cover 70% of the country. The Swiss consume 652 kcal per person per day from wheat.

My recipe this week is Züpfe or if you’re in a different part of Switzerland it’s called Zopf. It comes from the Emmental region of Switzerland and is often eaten on Sunday mornings. I got sent a package from my friend who works for TA-Swiss, an organisation offering scientific advice and technology assessment to the Swiss Government. In the package were some premix packets and a recipe for making it from scratch. I used the packet in the photos but I’ll post up the recipe.

Ingredients

300ml milk

1T dried active yeast

50g butter, melted

500g bread flour

10g salt

1 egg yolk

1T sugar

Method

Activate the yeast with a little milk and sugar then mix all the ingredients together until you get a dough. Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and leave covered for about 30 minutes.

Split the ball of dough into 2 and stretch out to a long thin roll about 60cm in length. For the braid, start by laying one roll from bottom left to top right and the other roll on top going from bottom right to top left.

Bring the bottom left up to the top right. Bring the top right down to the bottom left. Now there should be a loop of dough going round one roll.

Bring the top left down to the bottom right then the bottom right strand up to the top left.

Repeat this pattern until you run out of dough and tuck the ends under the loaf.

Leave covered to rise for an hour or two. Brush with egg or milk and bake in an oven at 190C or gas mark 5 for 30 minutes.

A few days ago, I live-braided a Züpfe on periscope, and promised the viewers I’d publish the recipe, so here goes it:

Ingredients

2.2 lb all-purpose flower

0.5 oz instant dry yeast (I use this one)

2.75 dl milk

2.75 dl water

8 tbsp butter (1 stick)

2 tbsp sugar

1.5 tbsp salt

1 egg yolk (to brush on)

Instructions

Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a big bowl. Melt the butter and combine with milk and water. Incorporate the liquid into the bowl — mix until all the flour and liquid is well combined.

Spread a bit of flour on your work surface and knead the dough. Once the texture feels smooth, cut the dough in half and look for little tiny bubbles in the dough. If you see bubbles, you’re done. Combine the cut pieces again.

Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a wet towel. Let it rest for at least one hour at room temperature. (You can also let it rest over night).

Half the dough and roll out to two equal long parts. Braid. Here’s what I say out loud while braiding to remember the pattern: “left over right — right over left — left over right — right over left …”

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place braided loaf in the middle. (Put it diagonally to leave as much space as possible for the rising during baking).

Let sit for 10 minutes.