Braided Bread – With Nuts And Poppy Seeds (2 pieces)

Recipe by Éva Szabolcs Ujhelyi

Perfect for welcome, not only during the holidays.

INGREDIENTS

Gluten-free ingredients:

• Magic Mills UniMix Universal Flour Mix – 300 g
• Warm milk – 150 ml
• Yeast – 12 g
• Salt – 3 g (1 small teaspoon)
• Margarine – 60 g
• Sweetener to taste
• Egg – 1 pc
• Filling: For 1 loaf 150 g chopped walnuts or poppy seeds, 100 g icing sugar, 30 g apricot jam, grated lemon zest, a little water

Completely free-from ingredients:

• Magic Mills UniMix Universal Flour Mix – 300 g
• Warm water – 210 ml
• Margarine – 60 g
• Sugar – 60 g
• Yeast – 12 g
• Salt – 3 g (1 small teaspoon)
• Filling: For 1 loaf 150 g chopped walnuts or poppy seeds, sweetener to taste, 30 g apricot jam, grated lemon zest, a little water

PREPARATION

1. Mix the ingredients for the filling and set aside.
2. Keep the margarine in a warm place so it’s easily crumbable. Crumble the flour with the margarine, then, mixing well with the remaining ingredients, knead it into a dough.
3. The dough may initially feel moist, which is normal. Let it rest for 5 minutes, allowing the flour mixture time to absorb the liquid. After 5 minutes, shape the dough into two equal-sized loaves.
4. Dust the table with a very thin layer of flour, then roll out the dough into a rough rectangle about 4 mm thick. Spread the filling over this sheet. There are several methods for this. If the filling is solid enough, roll it out on a floured surface to approximately the size of the dough. If the filling is soft, evenly spread or crumble it over the dough. A firmer filling is better as it is less likely to leak out during baking.
5. Then, fold in the ends of the dough slightly and roll it up. Place the rolled log either in a baking mold or on a baking sheet, always using parchment paper underneath! Prick the top of the roll 4-5 times with a fork. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for 60 minutes. Before baking, brush with oil or egg yolk.
6. Meanwhile, preheat the oven. For a conventional oven, bake at a medium setting. For a convection oven, set it to lower-upper fan mode at 200℃. The baking time is about 40 minutes. Slice it when it has cooled down!