Here’s a wonderful recipe for a soft and fluffy Sweet Braided Yeast Bread, known in Austria as Striezel.
Traditionally, the Striezel is braided with four or six strands, but a classic three-strand braid works beautifully too.
You’ll find a link to a video further down in the post that shows how to braid a six-strand Striezel step by step.
This delicious bread is traditionally made for All Saints’ Day (Allerheiligen, November 1st) and also enjoyed at Easter.
For Easter, the Striezel can also be shaped into a festive Easter wreath, decorated with colorful eggs or other spring ornaments.
Braiding a six-strand Striezel takes a bit of patience and focus. When I first tried it, I was often too impatient and kept searching for some kind of “hack” to make it easier. But honestly, the real “hack” is simple: listen carefully, watch closely, concentrate — and practice.
That’s it.
The six-strand braiding technique is explained really well in this video by Painless Cooking. (They’re demonstrating it with a challah, but the method is exactly the same.)
I recommend watching the video while you braid — and don’t hesitate to hit pause whenever you lose track of a strand! 😉
Click here to see all of my other traditional Viennese recipes. here.
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If you tried out the recipe, I would very much appreciate it, if you leave acomment and rating!
Striezel recipe to print out
Fluffy Sweet Braided Yeast Bread
Zutaten
For the yeast dough
- 0.75 oz fresh yeast (21 gram) or 1 pack of active dry yeast (0.25 oz/7g)
- ¼ cup sugar 45 gram
- ½ cup milk lukewarm 125 ml
- 2+½ cup flour smooth 325 gram
- 3 egg yolks
- zest of half a lemon
- 2 tablespoons brown rum 40%
- 1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or ½ tsp. ground vanilla, vanilla flavor
- 1 pinch salt
- ¼ cup butter at room temperature 45 gram, or 4 tbsp. or 0.4 sticks of butter
- raisins optional
further
- flour for dusting and shaping
- 1 egg whisked, for brushing
- Coarse Grain Sugar or flaked almonds for sprinkling on top optional
Anleitung
- Separate the egg whites from the yolk.
- Dissolve the yeast with a little sugar in the lukewarm milk.
- Gradually mix in all of the other ingredients for the dough and stir well, using a wooden spoon, hand mixer or kitchen machine.
- Cover with a kitchen cloth and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Knead the dough on a floured work surface. If necessary, incorporate a little more flour. Form the dough into 3-6 equal strands and braid them into a braid. (see blog post).
- Cover with a kitchen cloth and leave to rest for another 30 minutes.
- Brush the Striezel with beaten egg and optionally sprinkle with coarse grain sugar or flaked almonds.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 170°C top and bottom heat.
(c) by Angelika Kreitner-Beretits / Vienna Sunday Kitchen
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