Zopf

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!

A wonderful recipe for a great bread. This bread is great with butter and honey, or just jam, on relaxing Sunday mornings. Be sure to use *whole milk* (not skim milk) or you will get a bread that isn't as rich as it's supposed to be.

Salt is very important; otherwise it will be too bland, as the previous reviewer said. I also use a 15% Spelt Flour / 85% All purpose flour mix; it makes the texture much closer to real Zopf bread; Just using All Purpose flour results in a bread that is too much like normal white bread.

Texture: amazing- soft, toasts very well, dough easy to braid and work with. Taste: very very bland. This would be good to dip into flavored olive oil, or toast with honey or jam. But as a bread itself, the taste is lacking and flavorless. Process: I used my bread machine, putting in the milk, egg, & butter, followed by flour and yeast. I rose once in my machine. Then I took it out, braided it, and left it out for about 45 minutes (covered with a wet cloth) to rise (and it rose a lot, so I recommend a second rise). cooked about 20 minutes. Very light bread.- (If) Next-time alterations: add 3/4 teaspoon salt (a must), 1 tsp sugar.

I am so happy!! Ive been born and raised in Switzerland and moved to the USA after ive gotten married to my american husband. I am very happy here but i sure missed my Zopf. Now I am able to bake it for my American family... I've got even my father in law hooked with that bread... Thank you soooooooooooo much

great recipie, highly recommend. old world style texture and flavor

Absolutely delicious! Mine turned out perfectly, and looked beautiful. I would definitely brush over with butter, and not egg/water mixture though. Also, it needed a little salt.

This bread would have been very good if it had salt in the ingredients. It cooked for only 16 minutes before turning brown and was not cooked all the way through. It did look good and had good texture but was very bland.

Delicious! Be sure to use whole milk so it has its nice creamy taste! It's great with a soup, and its very addicting - disappears quickly.

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!

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.

This bread is great! It's good with with some sort of spread...honey, preserves, nutella, etc.

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 bread today and followed the recipe exactly and it turned out fantastic! This is a great day since I never ever can get my bread to turn out, this was a first!

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.

no taste

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.

This is a good recipe, makes a nice bread. I would suggest a few changes from my experience; I live on the French/Swiss border and make this bread with a slightly different recipe according to the Swiss German housewives. I suggest adding 1/2 Tablespoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon of sugar, omitting the egg mixed into the dough and instead using a couple of Tablespoons of plain yogurt (it helps the bread "keep" longer). I also let it rise twice: once before braiding and once after, I'm not sure if that makes a difference. Thanks for this recipe, it's always great to try something different!

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.

The braid is pretty, but this just seemed like standard white bread to me.

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.

excellent recipe...

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!

great soft bread. great for PB and J sandwiches.

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.

I’m in 7th grade I made this for a school country project. I chose Switzerland made this and I love it.

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 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.

This is wounerful! I'm diabetic and have kidney failure, so I am on strict diets. This is very low sodium, adverage carb., and tastes good! It is really good toasted! I put sesame seeds on it, because I can. Will defineitely make again and again. jThank you!!

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.

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 ;)

This is a very heathy bread! It's good and hearty. Great for dipping. Yum!

It needs salt.

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!