Osterbrot

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl or stand mixer with dough hook
• •Baking sheet lined with parchment
• •Sharp knife or lame for scoring
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Soak the raisins

   Put the raisins in a small bowl with the rum, apple juice, or warm water and leave them for 20 minutes, then drain and pat them dry. Soaking makes them plump enough not to steal moisture from the loaf; drying them keeps wet spots from tearing the dough.

2. 2

   Wake the yeast

   Warm the milk to lukewarm, about 35C, and stir in the yeast with a spoonful of the sugar. Let it stand for 10 minutes until creamy and active. Hot milk kills yeast, cold milk slows it to a sulk, and enriched dough already asks enough patience from the baker.

3. 3

   Build the dough

   Mix the flour, remaining sugar, salt, lemon zest, vanilla, egg, and yeast milk until no dry flour remains, then knead for 5 minutes before adding the butter. Add the softened butter in pieces and knead another 8 to 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky. Butter goes in after the dough has strength, because fat coats flour and slows the gluten you need to hold the rise.

4. 4

   Fold in fruit

   Flatten the dough, scatter over the dried raisins and chopped almonds, and fold and knead gently until they are evenly spread. Don't beat them in like mortar. The fruit is heavier than the dough, so a rough hand drags it through the gluten and gives you tunnels instead of a clean crumb.

   If the dough feels sticky, oil your hands lightly instead of adding handfuls of flour. Extra flour makes the loaf tough, and Osterbrot should slice soft.
5. 5

   First rise

   Set the dough in a lightly buttered bowl, cover it, and let it rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Judge the dough, not the clock. When a fingertip pressed into it leaves a slow dent, the yeast has filled the dough without exhausting it.

6. 6

   Shape the loaf

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a tight round, pulling the outside down and under so the top sits smooth. Surface tension gives the loaf height; a loose round spreads flat and bakes like a sweet doorstep.

7. 7

   Final rise

   Place the loaf on a lined baking sheet, cover it lightly, and let it rise 35 to 45 minutes, until puffy but still holding its shape. Heat the oven to 180C while it rises. If it overproofs, the cross will collapse and the loaf will sag in the oven.

8. 8

   Glaze and score

   Brush the loaf with the egg yolk and milk glaze, then cut a shallow cross across the top with a sharp knife and scatter over the sliced almonds and pearl sugar if using. Score after the rise, not before, because the cut is a release valve for the final oven spring, not decoration alone.

9. 9

   Bake and cool

   Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the loaf is deep golden and sounds hollow underneath, or reaches about 92C in the centre. If the top browns too fast, cover it loosely with foil, because the sugar and egg colour quickly while the middle still needs time. Cool at least 45 minutes before slicing so the crumb sets instead of tearing under the knife.

Chef Tips

• •Use Type 550 flour if you can get it, or a strong white bread flour. A soft cake flour can't hold the butter, egg, raisins, and almonds without turning heavy.
• •Don't skip drying the soaked raisins. Wet fruit is one of the quiet ways a sweet yeast loaf fails, because it leaves damp pockets and drags the crumb open.
• •For Easter breakfast, bake it the day before and wrap it once fully cool. The crust softens a little overnight, the lemon settles into the crumb, and the loaf slices cleanly.
• •Serve it with butter, honey, jam, or Quark, fresh curd cheese. Nicht aus dem Glas does not mean you must make the jam on Easter morning. It means don't pretend a packet sweet bread is the same thing.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can rise slowly overnight in the refrigerator after kneading and folding in the fruit; cover it well, then shape it cold in the morning and give it a longer final rise.
• •The baked loaf keeps 2 days wrapped at room temperature. Toast older slices lightly and butter them; Weggeworfen wird nichts.
• •Leftover Osterbrot makes good Arme Ritter, German French toast, because the enriched crumb soaks up egg and milk without falling apart.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 118g)