Zopf (which literally means braid) is probably the most famous Swiss bread. Unlike most other Swiss breads it contains milk and butter, which gives it a lovely soft texture. While the supermarkets sell Zopf all week, it’s traditionally a treat we Swiss only indulge in on Sundays, for breakfast or brunch. It’s best eaten with butter and jam, or butter and honey. Butter and Birnendicksaft goes well together too. Or, of course, Nutella.
Like any bread, Zopf is best enjoyed on the same day. If you want to prepare it the day before so it’s ready early morning for your breakfast, you can either take it out of the oven 10 minutes before the end and finish baking it in the morning, or you can put the ready-made, unbaked Zopf into the fridge (in a plastic bag) and let it prove in the fridge overnight. Then you would add the eggwash in the morning and bake it according to the recipe.
Recipe for one loaf
- 500g flour (for a normal, white Zopf you can use Zopfmehl (Zopf flour) if you live in Switzerland, or just plain flour if you live abroad or don’t have any Zopfmehl at home. You can also mix some brown and white flour (or spelt flour or anything else) to make a brown Zopf).
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 20g fresh yeast or 7g (1 tbsp) dried fast-action yeast
- 3 dl milk, lukewarm
- 60g butter, soft
- 1 egg
Method
Put flour, salt and sugar into a bowl and mix. Add dried yeast or fresh yeast in crumbs and mix. Add milk and butter and stir until combined. If the dough isn’t stretchy and soft, add a little water.
Knead dough for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes with an electronic device. The dough is kneaded enough if you can see a regular pattern of lots of small bubbles inside the dough if you cut it in half. These bubbles contain the oxygen the yeast needs in order to prove the dough.
Form a ball and put back into bowl, cover with clingfilm and prove it until double in size. This will take about 1-1.5 hours.
Knock air out of dough, cut in half and roll both halves into long strings.
Braid the dough into a braid (Zopf). If you’re unsure how to do this, watch my video below.
Put the Zopf onto a baking tray covered with baking parchment. Cover it with a tea towel (or put tray into a big plastic bag). Let it rise again until double in size. Or, if you’re in a hurry, heat the oven to 50 C and put the Zopf into the oven until risen, this will only take about 20 minutes. Important: stick a wooden spoon into the oven door so the door isn’t properly closed so the bread gets the oxygen it needs to rise.
When Zopf is risen, crack the egg into a small bowl, add a sprinkle of salt or sugar and mix well. Using a brush, cover the Zopf with the egg wash.
Bake it in lower part of the oven at 220 C for 35-45 minutes. You know the Zopf is ready when the crust looks golden brown and you get a hollow sound when knocking at the bottom of the Zopf with the back of your finger.
The introduction to your Zopf recipe mentions that Zopf should contain milk and butter. But then forgets the butter in the ingredients and method…Zopf without butter ??
Thank you for pointing this out Jim, that is a terrible and embarassing mistake. The recipe should also state 60 grams of butter, melted. I’m going to amend it tomorrow. Thanks again, Fran
I can’t wait to try this baby! Thank you so much for introducing me to this bread… It’s like a long lost twin sister of our Shabbat Challah… can’t wait!
So nice to hear our Zopf will join you at a Shabbat 🙂 please send me a photo! We love olive bread and will try your olive and tabil Challah very soon
Made my first Zopf today. Yay! I need that video to be in slo-mo !! 😉
please explain what is 3dl of milk?
Hi, dl are decilitres, the European measurement. 3dl are 10 US fl oz. I hope this helps!
Thx, yes that helps.
Thank you for sharing this recipe! We have made and loved this bread under the name Zupfa for about 20 years, and very few people seem to know about it.
Hi, tried you Zopf today and it was the best ever. Tried several other recipes before and they never turned out as I remember. Great job
Kindly Susie
Hi Susie, that’s so great to hear, thank you so much!
We made your Zopf this afternoon and it turned out so good, I’ll never buy shop made Zopf again 🙂 thanks!!
Thank you, that makes me so happy!
Your egg wash, did you use water or milk?
Just egg, no water or milk!
Just egg, no water or milk
Hi Is egg wash with egg yolk included? I have heard from others, use egg yolk into bread and use egg white to cover the zopf. Thank you.
Yes the egg wash consists of egg white and yolk. This is what makes the crust the typical Zopf colour. I’ve never heard of the way you describe it, I would like to try it one day!
Can I braid the dough and leave in fridge overnight, then bake in the morning?
Thanks for all these great recipes – I used to holiday every year in Switzerland as a kid with family out there, it has been a real pleasure rediscovering a lot of great Swiss food. This Zopf recipe is wonderful, and like a lot of classic recipes brings back good family memories. My granny was a Swiss farmwife and would serve this with her homemade raspberry jam… brings it all back, just as delicious now and my daughter really loves it too! 😀