Another German favorite recipe of mine! This recipe has caused some confusion with friends of mine who just couldn't figure out whether they thought this tasted more like a cake or like a sweet bread. Either way, the soft consistency and sweet curls of marzipan are always a welcome treat!
Ingredients:
Dough:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 125 g unsalted butter
- 3 tsp instant yeast
- 200 ml 2% milk (~1 cup)
- 1/3 cup caster sugar
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- ( 1 tube of butter vanilla extract)
Filling:
- 1 1/2 cups ground almonds
- 1/8 cup caster sugar
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 100 g marzipan
- 2 egg whites
Glaze:
- 2 egg yolks + milk
Stir instant yeast into warm (but not hot!) milk and let sit for approximately 10 minutes. In the meantime, mix flour, soft butter, caster sugar, egg and salt in a big bowl. Add the yeast and knead well. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1- 1 1/2 hours (cover with a damp kitchen towel).
Split dough into three even portions and roll each portion into a rectangle.
Prepare the filling by mixing soft butter, almonds, marzipan, egg whites and caster sugar and spread evenly across the dough, leaving some space on the sides (otherwise, things will get messy when you roll it). Note: rather than buying ground almonds, I like to buy whole amonds (with skin) and grind them in a mixer myself. This way, the filling will look darker and there will be more of a contrast between the dough and filling.
Start rolling the dough from the long side (i.e. from left to right in the picture) to form a "sausage". Repeat this process for all three portions until you have three "sausages" of similar length.
Place the three parts next to each other and start braiding them into one big braid. Be careful not to rip the surface of the dough as it is relatively delicate.
Once you're done braiding, tuck the ends underneath the braid to make it look prettier.
Let the braid sit for at least 30-60 minutes before putting it in the oven. This will allow the dough to expand while in the shape of the braid and it will decrease how much the braid breaks open in the middle while baking. As you can see, I was a little impatient and my dough ripped open at the intersections...
Bake for 35-40 min at 350 °F. I like to brush the dough with some egg wash, both before it goes into the oven and approximately 10 minutes before it is done baking. This will give it a nice golden colour.
Let cool and enjoy! :) PS: I sometimes like to cover the middle part with some roasted almonds.
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