• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

There are many ways to shape this dough, the classic being to braid it. For two good sized plump and pretty braids, flatten the dough out on your table, making an oblong about 12 inches by 18 inches. Cut it in half lengthwise and then cut each half in thirds, making each piece the same size. Form smooth balls out of the pieces, and cover with a thick damp cloth or an inverted bowl to keep them from drying out while you work.

When the rounded dough softens, roll three of the balls into snakes about 18 inches long, working each of them back and forth under your palms, from the center toward the ends. Try to keep them smooth and even: don’t rush. Professional bakers use fine rye flour to dust the snakes, which prevents them from bleeding, or pulling into each other, during their final rise. If you have no rye flour handy, any kind will do.

Braid from the center toward each end—this is strange but helpful. For the best final result, keep the braid somewhat loose; don’t stretch or pull the strands. When you have your braid, place it in a greased loaf pan or on a greased baking sheet, dusted with seeds if you wish. Repeat the whole process with the other 3 pieces of dough. Let them rise in a warm humid place until the soft dough returns a gently made fingerprint (wet finger) slowly.

If you know how to braid 4 strands instead of 3, the loaf will be higher. Here is a fast way to braid a pretty braid with only one strand: it takes a little practice, but works not only for loaves but for rolls as well. Incidentally, this recipe makes good, very light rolls, providing they are not allowed to dry out at any time.

Brush the braids with an egg wash made of one egg plus the amount of water that will fill half the shell. Use a soft paintbrush, a feather brush, or a fringed cloth napkin for this: those stiff commercial pastry brushes can be hard on the dough. Cover the whole exposed surface carefully, but don’t let the egg wash collect in the valleys. Sprinkle with seeds, if you choose, and place the masterpiece in a preheated 350°F oven. Bake until nicely browned, about 35 minutes for a long thin braid, or 45 minutes for a fat one; in loaf pans, allow at least 45 minutes, unless the bread is fantastically light.

NOTE: If the smell of the baking egg wash is obnoxious to you, next time wash the bread just after it comes out of the oven, instead of just before it goes in. The effect is nearly the same, and the heat of the bread cooks the egg to a respectable shine without added time in the oven.

SOME TIPS If you want really high slices—not at all necessary for dinner bread, but convenient for sandwiches—make a braid that you twist only three times, so that it is very short and fat. For the highest slices of all, put this loaf in a regular 8″x4″ pan. These fatter breads will take a little longer to cook, and need to cool before slicing.

A very long, skinny braid made with long, thin snakes can be formed into a circle on the baking sheet and is quite spectacular served hot from the oven. It will bake much faster, and in fact you can bake it at a higher temperature much faster if it is very thin indeed.

Featherpuff Bread

1 ½ cups cottage cheese (355 ml)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

¼ cup honey (60 ml)

½ cup water (120 ml)

2 teaspoons active dry yeast (¼ oz or 7 g)

½ cup warm water (120 ml)

5 cups whole wheat flour, finely ground (750 g)

½ cup powdered milk (60 g)

1 ½ teaspoons salt (8.25 g)

2 tablespoons butter, in cold chips (28 g)

This is not an inexpensive bread, but it is packed with protein, and much loved. Probably you could say it represents some outside limit of what a dairy bread can be, both in ingredients, and in the bread itself: tender, exceptionally light, pale and rather sweet, with a very dark crust. It is hard to believe that a single bread can incorporate so much milk and eggs, but it does, and gracefully.

Warm the cottage cheese gently in a saucepan. Remove from heat and mix in the eggs, honey, and water, taking care