Neujahrsbrezel

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dough hook
• •Rimmed baking sheet
• •Pastry brush
• •Kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Warm the milk until it feels just warm on your finger, not hot, because heat kills yeast before it has done a day's work. Stir in the yeast and a spoon of the sugar, then leave it for 10 minutes until it looks creamy and alive. If nothing happens, start again; dead yeast will not become brave in the oven.

2. 2

   Build the dough

   Mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt, egg, lemon zest if using, and yeast milk into a rough dough, then knead until it begins to stretch and smooth out. Add the softened butter in pieces only after that first strength is there, because early butter coats the flour and weakens the gluten. Knead until the dough is soft, elastic, and only lightly tacky.

   If kneading by hand, smear the butter in a little at a time and keep going when it looks messy. The dough comes back together once the butter is absorbed. Panic is not a method.
3. 3

   First rise

   Put the dough in a lightly buttered bowl, cover it, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The dough should look swollen and feel full of air; if your kitchen is cold, give it time instead of more heat. Das braucht seine Zeit.

4. 4

   Shape the pretzel

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and press out the large bubbles, because trapped pockets make the braid tear unevenly. Roll it into one long rope about 90cm long, keeping the middle thicker and tapering the ends. Form a wide U, cross the thin ends twice, then fold them down onto the thick lower curve and press them in firmly so the pretzel keeps its shape as it rises.

5. 5

   Proof and glaze

   Move the pretzel to a lined baking sheet, cover it loosely, and let it rise until puffy but still defined, about 35 to 45 minutes. Brush with the egg yolk and milk, then scatter over coarse sugar and almonds if using. The glaze gives colour and grip; the sugar belongs on the crust, not dissolved into the dough where nobody sees it.

6. 6

   Bake pale gold

   Bake at 180C for 25 to 30 minutes, until the pretzel is pale-gold, glossy, and sounds hollow when tapped underneath. If it browns too fast, cover it loosely with baking paper, because this is a sweet New Year bread, not a dark lye pretzel. Cool on a rack before slicing or tearing, so the crumb sets instead of clumping under the knife.

Chef Tips

• •Use bread flour, not cake flour. The pretzel is large and needs strength to hold the shape; weak flour bakes soft but spreads wide.
• •Keep the milk lukewarm. Hot milk kills yeast, cold milk slows it down, and both make people blame the recipe instead of the thermometer.
• •No lye bath. That belongs to Laugenbrezeln, alkaline pretzels. A Neujahrsbrezel is brushed with egg and baked like a festive milk bread.
• •Make the middle of the rope thicker than the ends. The thick curve gives you a generous slice, and the thin crossed arms bake through cleanly.
• •Serve it with butter, honey, jam, or plain coffee. Schön ist, was schmeckt.

Advance Preparation

• •Mix and knead the dough the evening before, then let it rise slowly in the refrigerator overnight. Cold slows the yeast and gives the dough better flavour without stealing New Year's morning.
• •Shape the pretzel in the morning while the dough is still cool; cool dough holds a cleaner rope and is easier to move.
• •The baked pretzel keeps well for 1 day wrapped in a clean cloth. Toast slices the next morning and butter them. Weggeworfen wird nichts.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 90g)