This sweet bread was my favourite part of Easter as a child. It’s a Swiss recipe and is similar to challah, a traditional Jewish bread. In my family we call it tresse, which means plait in French. Not only is it delicious, it’s also a great way to use up old/sour milk – see the tips for preventing food waste at the end!
Here is a pic of me after my first attempt at this recipe – I wish you as much beginners’ luck as I had!
Recipe
1 hour preparation time, 25 minutes cooking time
Ingredients
- 1 kg flour
- 125g butter
- 60cl milk
- 42g instant yeast
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 egg yolk
Method
- Melt the butter in a saucepan, then, off the heat, add the milk. Sprinkle the yeast into the mixture and mix well. Add the salt, sugar and flour, then knead the dough for at least 5 minutes. Let the dough rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
- The dough should have doubled in size. Re-knead (this will make it lose volume, but don’t worry!)
- Separate the dough into 3, roll each piece into a sausage shape and plait them.
- Put the tresse on a baking tray and cover with foil.
- To give it a beautiful golden colour, cover it with egg yolk. If you don’t have an egg, use milk.
- Bake for 25 minutes (test it with a knife to check that it is cooked).
- After cooking, allow it to cool on a wire rack (this will prevent the bottom from getting damp).
- Bon appétit!
Tips for preventing food waste:
- You can use up old/slightly off milk in this recipe. Sour milk is a replacement for buttermilk and is great for baking. Don’t worry – it won’t affect the flavour!
- Use stale tresse to make baked french toast (although I seriously doubt you’ll have any left over!)
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Replenish 