Nuss-Striezel (braided walnut cake)

Method

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, salt and yeast together, then add the lukewarm milk, melted butter and egg. Knead by hand or with a dough hook for 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
2. Cover and prove in a warm spot for 60 minutes, until roughly doubled.
3. Grind the walnuts finely in a food processor, in short pulses, stopping before they turn to paste.
4. Combine the ground walnuts, milk, honey, sugar, butter and cinnamon in a pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, until thickened to a spreadable paste. Cool completely.
5. Roll the risen dough out into a rectangle, about 40 by 30 cm. Spread the cooled walnut filling evenly over it, leaving a small border.
6. Roll up tightly from the long edge into a log. Cut in half lengthwise and twist the two halves around each other, cut sides facing up, then form into a braid or a loose spiral on a lined baking sheet.
7. Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. Brush with the beaten egg.
8. Bake at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes, until deep golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped.
9. Whisk the icing sugar and water together and drizzle over the braid once it has cooled slightly.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers milling and cooking the walnut filling; the dough, braiding and baking are the same as the hand method.

1. Walnuts into the dry bowl. Grind 8 sec / speed 8, stopping before they turn oily and clump.
2. Add the milk, honey, sugar, butter and cinnamon. Cook 5 min / 90 °C / speed 2, until thickened to a spreadable paste. Pour out and cool completely, then continue as in the hand method.

Notes

• Freshly ground walnuts make a real difference in a filling this simple. Pre-ground walnut meal has usually lost much of the oil that carries its flavour.
• Honey is what keeps this filling moist. A filling made with sugar alone dries out and crumbles when the braid is sliced; honey holds moisture in the way sugar cannot.
• Cool the filling fully before it goes onto the dough, for the same reason as in Mohnstriezel; warm filling softens the dough and makes it harder to roll tightly.
• It keeps for 3 days at room temperature, wrapped, and freezes well unglazed for up to 2 months.

Ingredient substitutions

• Walnuts can be hazelnuts, ground the same way, for a different but equally traditional filling.
• Honey can be golden syrup in the same quantity, though the flavour is less rounded.
• A splash of dark rum in the filling, added with the cinnamon, is a good traditional variation.
• For a poppy seed version instead, follow the filling method in Mohnstriezel and use the same dough and braiding technique.