Hello baking enthusiasts! I know quite a few of you in the EF-sphere are very interested in Swiss food traditions and/or baking. We are too! We have recently made a post in our fresh attitude blog on how to make zopf...which is free and hopefully entertaining. The post also includes our first 'how to' video, which we hope you will find equally informative and entertaining...

Constructive comments are appreciated and encouraged...either here in the EF or on our blog...

Enjoy...and I hope some of you will give it go...

Jack

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zopf

Zopf or Züpfe is a type of Swiss bread made from white flour, milk, egg, butter and yeast.

Oh, it is called tresse -- in case anyone else living in the French-speaking part of Switzerland was wondering...

That looks so easy and very delicious. Love the video - very clear instructions and easy to follow. Thank you!

Nice video. It reminded me a bit of this one:



Cheers,

Nick

For the record, the video wouldn't even show up for me in FireFox. (By design by Microsoft, perhaps?)

The video is cool -- makes it look so clean and easy! Especially helpful should be the braiding part, as that takes a while to get right (at least it did for me).

Made on Friday and eaten Saturday night or Sunday wouldn't work in my house. My family is barely willing to let it cool before attacking it. I'm just happy if there's any left Saturday morning.

Thanks for the feedback...scratching head about the firefox, since that is what I use and I have no problems with it...hmmm...I'll have to go digging around to see if there is an issue I should warn others about...It is a new (and surprisingly open) technology, so there are bound to be bugs...

Glad you were able to view the video, and good luck on making the zopf - also for the record...we can't keep it around very long either after freshly baking a loaf...

Jack

We've updated our original video on how to make zopf in our blog, which now includes unique music (composed by a Swiss associate) and hopefully cross-browser support (at least we've tested on Firefox 2 and 3, Opera, IE7 and Safari)...

how to make zopf (updated video and posting)

Comments and opinions welcomed...
Jack

Jack, I just made Zopf using the recipe on the back of the 1kg pack of Zopf flour. It rose humongously, to my surprise. Forgot to mix the egg yolk with water before painting on the top, so the top was kind of 'fake looking'.

The taste is too neutral for my liking. Can I add more salt or sugar or both, you think? And maybe some sunflower seeds? (Are the Swiss and German ancestors spinning in their graves yet?)

FWIW, I usually add extra sugar and butter — but in our household, any 'neutralness' is made up for with whatever is slathered on when it's sliced and eaten (typically butter and confiture).

I agree...adding extra salt is nice (I would stay away from adding extra sugar)...what you put on the zopf is also important!

I'm curious to know if you get the same results in Texas as in CH. Someone told me the altitude and water would make a difference.

Well, I've eaten, but never actually made, a Zopf in CH, so I have nothing to compare my results with. I've baked them in both Maryland and Texas (pretty much sea-level in both places) with the same results.

I'm not sure if it's the quality of ingredients or the altitude, but mine always seem to puff up during baking a little more than I think they should. Nobody complains about that around here though, as it just means more real estate for toppings.

Edit: BTW, my recipe doesn't call for water.

How important is the water when making bread? Forever, we were told we could not have NY pizza in LA because the water from the hudson is special.

Yeah, the recipe on the back of the Zopf flour pack I bought didn't require water either. Just 300ml of milk for 500g of flour, plus yeast, sugar, salt and softened butter.

No, they are too busy spinning for me and my method of putting it in a normal loaf tin. None of that faffing about plaiting it for me plus I get annoyed with the slices at the beginning which are about 5 cm in diameter. The loaf tin gives a zopf which tastes like zopf but you can slice it evenly. But I guess you can't really call it a zopf any more...

Haha. Guess what, SandGrounder. I braided it AND put it in a loaf tin for the final proofing (proving?). So I got a loaf that looks like a braid from the top and yet gives reasonably sized slices all round.



(The ancestors will trip as they spin.)

I've made zopf a few times with various recipes and they are all tasty though some batches were fluffier than others. Some swiss friends of ours have sworn of zopf because they say it's really fattening with all the butter etc. in it. Well, gaining weight isn't a problem for me so I've enjoyed it in their place

That reminds me of a former work colleague from the UK who said she was going to stay off white bread because it was ruining her figure. Her (male) colleague from across the room piped up, "It's not the bread that's fattening, it's the bacon, double egg and sausage you shove into it every morning."

I quite enjoy zopf just on its own... especially fresh and still warm. Just tear off bits and chomp away and I've barely half of the (small!) loaf left by the time i arrive home! LOL

Anyway, I've seen Zopfmehl in supermarkets... and am a little curious what the difference is between that and regular plain flour? can anyone explain?