When I visited friends in Switzerland, that’s when I first had delicious Sunday Zopf bread from Switzerland. One of these pals works in pastry. I had to convert the metric measurements that were given to me. This is quite simple to make and yields a gorgeous loaf.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 12 |
| Yield: | 1 loaf |
Ingredients
- 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
- 1 ⅓ cups warm milk
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- 3 ½ cups bread flour
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Add egg yolk, butter, then 2 cups bread flour; stir well to combine. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal pieces and roll each piece into a 14-inch long cylinder. Braid the pieces together and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Beat together egg white and water in a small bowl. Brush risen loaf with egg wash and bake in preheated oven until golden, 20 to 25.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 38 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 2 g |
| Cholesterol | 24 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 2 g |
| Sodium | 30 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 3 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I’m in 7th grade I made this for a school country project. I chose Switzerland made this and I love it.
It needs salt.
I agree with any/everyone who mentions adding salt, although I went light on the sugar. The bread does not havve a strong taste, but my family loved the consistency and texture.
The bread was edible, but there is no salt in this recipe, so the taste is completely bland. In addition, it should be coated with an egg yolk and milk mix instead of egg white. It gives it a much better color. Sorry for the review, but it definitely needs salt, otherwise it’s Tuscan bread 😉
3 stars, I have to try again… I am sure the better I get at it… the more stars I will give.. it is me, not the recipe at this time.
Bakes beautifully, but taste is off. I could eat Zopf in Switzerland with nothing on it. This needs salt and butter to taste good. Also, I was taught to use an egg yolk to spread on outside of loaf before it goes into oven to make it golden brown, not the white.
I’ve used this recipe before but being Swiss I actually add a tbsp sugar and a pinch of salt to make it more authentic tasting (zopf is a sweet, buttery bread). You can add the sugar and salt to the yeast and milk mixture. Other traditional recipes have more butter (up to 5 tbsp) that is melted and poured into the milk mixture. I also leave the dough to proof before separating into three and another proof once braided to ensure a lighter textured bread.
I combined this with a recipe I got in Switzerland to essentially make a new hybrid that I like the best! I omitted the egg in the bread, added 1/2 T sugar with the yeast and milk, doubled the butter, added a 1/2 tablespoon salt, let it rise twice (like how you’d classically make rolls), and baked at 400. It was really good with these modifications- better than when I made it the first time without the salt for sure.
This was a good crusty bread. As another reviewer did, I let it rise twice. It created a heavy bread. Next time I will follow the recipe. I did add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and was glad I did.
This is a great braided white bread recipe; however, the texture, taste and smell are all wrong. Zopf should have a buttery taste that is delicious right out of the oven without anything on it. The texture should be a little more elastic than this recipe and it should fill your home with a wonderful, buttery aroma. This recipe fails on all counts.
This recipe is wonderful. I read reviews before I made it and added some salt. I assumed the poster simply forgot it. I have made this bread several times since I discovered it a few months ago. Love, love, love!
no taste
My husband is Swiss and has used this recipe to make his favorite bread from home. It is delicious with a little butter and jam!
I made this today and it was absolutely fantastic. I was looking for a no salt bread for my father who is on a restricted diet. This is it! It was also fairly easy to make. It was the first loaf of bread i have made from sratch and it turned out perfect. We all loved it, you can tell it doesn’t have salt, but if that’s what you have to have, then this recipe is the bomb. It was delicious and soft and its something that anyone on a salt resticted diet can eat. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us Victoria!
I give this recipe five stars BUT I would like to know if the author forgot the salt and also forgot to say to let the dough rise for 30-45 minutes before proceeding to braid or is it really correct as is….? because it sure doesn’t work if you use the recipe as it is written here. I knew enough to add the salt and to let it have a first rising but my daughter didn’t and hers turned out tasteless and hard.(I forgot to tell her about my changes when I sent her to this site for the recipe.. oops!) Otherwise it is an excellent bread! Very soft and fragrant! Mmmmmm!
I made this bread for my daughters sixth grade class. She did a culture study on Switzerland. I followed the recipe exact. It turned out beautifully. The outside doesn’t get hard and crusty like some breads I have made at home. The texture was nice and the taste was pretty good too, especially the next day. Next time i will add a teaspoon of salt. I let it rise an hour + after I braided it. I was surprised how much it rose up. I will for sure make this again.
The braid is pretty, but this just seemed like standard white bread to me.
This is one of the best bread recipes I’ve made in a long time. Easy, straightforward and VERY fluffy! It’s dense, yet light at the same time. Probably not for a beginner baker, but definitely for someone who has baked a loaf or two and has discovered the nuances of bread-baking.
This is a good recipe except that its lacking salt. i added 1 1/2 tsp of salt and it came out nice. i,ve made zopf twice before and it always had salt in the recipe. not sure if the salt was accidently left out in this recipe or not but i definitely prefer salt in my bread. without it it lacks taste and is bland. but thats me. thank you for the recipe.
I gave this recipe 4 stars because the dough smelled wonderful as I was kneading it and the bread looked gorgeous when it came out of the oven… But, the taste was very bland and reminded me of eating partially cooked dough, even though it was cooked all the way through. I was rather disappointed. I won’t be using this recipe again, but thanks anyway.
Great recipe and a fantastic bread. My only comment – my stepmother is Swiss and she lets the bread rise for 30 mins before plaiting, and then lets it rise a further 30 mins after plaiting. This doesn’t add anything to the taste but it makes it look prettier! I think it does help the texture; however – it’s more open and softer. She has had difficulty in the UK and in NZ with finding correct flour (in Switzerland you can buy special zopf flour). She suggests using a strong white flour. One reviewer has suggested brushing with butter rather than the egg yolk and water mix. I personally wouldn’t recommend this – the egg yolk mix gives a beautiful golden shine to the bread that is very attractive and butter doesn’t have the same effect at all. It definitely DOES need salt, but not sugar!