Fluffy, chocolaty, delicious
For Easter: Recipe for a chocolate yeast plait with nuts
Light, juicy and intensely chocolaty: This yeast plait with a chocolate and nut filling is a treat for both the palate and the eye
© Rocky89
The yeast plait belongs to Easter like cookies to Christmas. In the variant with chocolate and fine hazelnuts, the classic invites you to enjoy it. The recipe.
Baked goods made from yeast dough are simply part of Easter: whether yeast braid, Easter wreaths or buns in cute animal shapes such as Easter hens or rabbits. The tradition of making baked goods with yeast instead of sourdough goes back a long way. The forerunner of today’s Christian Easter is the Jewish Passover, which celebrates the successful escape of the Israelites from the captivity of the pharaohs in Egypt about 3,300 years ago. Since then, Jewish families have not eaten leavened bread during the holiday season, so yeast is the ideal alternative leavening agent.
But not only the yeast pastry itself has a long history, there are also myths about the origin of the yeast plait.
The history of the yeast braid: A pastry with many faces
While the yeast plait is best known today as a pretty, beautifully shaped Easter tradition, its origins can hardly be described as rosy. According to legend, wives sacrificed their braids to their deceased husbands, from which the braided pastry developed over time: it was placed in the grave of the deceased in place of the braids. Today, the pastry is also considered a traditional funeral feast in some areas. But the image of the popular Easter pastry can also be more cheerful, on New Year’s Day the yeast braid is given away as a good luck charm, eaten together with the family it is said to protect against illness and bad luck.
Whether as an Easter pastry, a funeral feast or a lucky charm – hardly anyone can resist a well-made yeast plait. The pastry melts wonderfully fluffy and fluffy easily on the tongue – a real pleasure, which also has a lot to offer visually thanks to the sophisticated braiding. In a chocolaty version, coated with a cream of fine dark chocolate and crunchy hazelnuts, an absolute highlight of the Easter season.
Patience and leisure – this is how you bake a yeast plait
To make a delicious yeast plait like from the baker, you need patience, leisure and time – it’s not for nothing that yeast dough has to fight with the prejudice of being a bit bitchy. However, if you pay enough attention to the dough, the yeast plait will succeed in no time at all. To prepare it, yeast is mixed with flour, egg, sugar, and butter, whereby the yeast dough needs to be properly kneaded and massaged in the first step. Once that’s done, it needs rest above all – it thrives in a warm place, rises and then needs to be kneaded again.
Unrolled and coated with a fine chocolate cream and chopped hazelnuts, the yeast braid is now braided. If you turn the opening of the strands slightly upwards, the filling will come out visually well. Finally, squash the braid a little so it looks more compact and doesn’t become too flat. The finished braid must now go again so that it can develop its fullest volume. Coated with an egg and milk mixture, which provides a wonderful shine and a beautiful colour, the pastries are now put into the oven and can then be enjoyed – preferably freshly baked.
By the way: According to Christian belief, the carefully braided strands symbolize how closely people are connected to God. Even if you are not of Christian faith and want to do without the symbolism, you should give this chocolate yeast plait with nuts a chance. The pastry – so light, fluffy, chocolaty and juicy – literally melts in your mouth and literally sweetens the spring season. Good succeed.
Recipe for a chocolate yeast plait with nuts
ingredients
- 180 milliliters milk lukewarm
- 1 packet of dry yeast
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 60 grams of raw cane sugar
- 80 grams of butter
- 400 grams of wheat flour, type 405
- 1 egg
- 120 grams of dark chocolate, 70% cocoa content
- 60 grams of butter
- 15 grams of baking cocoa
- 40 grams of powdered sugar
- 40 grams of chopped hazelnuts
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon of milk
preparation
- Heat the milk slightly and place in a bowl with the dry yeast, a pinch of salt, sugar, butter, flour and egg. Mix well.
- Knead the dough until smooth, cover and let rise in a warm place for at least an hour.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling: melt the chocolate and butter in a water bath and stir in the icing sugar and cocoa powder to form a smooth cream.
- Roll out the dough on a floured work surface into a large rectangle.
- Spread the filling evenly, leaving a small border free. Sprinkle the chocolate layer evenly with the chopped hazelnuts.
- Roll up the sheet of dough lengthwise and place on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the roll twice lengthways from one end to the other end, leaving a 2-centimetre-wide end to hold the strands of dough together.
- Braid the three strands loosely into a braid, turning the openings of the strands slightly upwards so that the filling is visible.
- Let the braid rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees top and bottom heat. Whisk 1 egg yolk with 1 teaspoon milk and brush evenly over the braid.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.