Streuselzopf (braided streusel loaf with pudding cream)

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. Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and egg into a little of the cold milk until smooth. Heat the rest of the milk until steaming, then whisk it in. Return to the pan and cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens to a stiff pudding, about 4 minutes. Stir in the vanilla, press cling film onto the surface, and cool completely.
4. Make the streusel: rub the cold butter into the flour and sugar with your fingertips until it forms coarse, pea-sized crumbs. Chill until needed.
5. Roll the risen dough out into a rectangle, about 40 by 30 cm. Spread the cooled pudding cream 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. Scatter the streusel evenly over the top.
8. Bake at 180°C for 30 to 35 minutes, until the streusel is solidly golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers the pudding cream; the dough, streusel, braiding and baking are the same as the hand method.

1. Milk, sugar, cornstarch and egg into the bowl. Cook 6 min / 90 °C / speed 3, until thickened to a stiff pudding.
2. Stir in the vanilla. Mix 5 sec / speed 2. Press cling film onto the surface and cool completely, then continue as in the hand method.

Notes

• Cool the pudding cream fully before it goes onto the dough. Warm filling softens the dough and makes it harder to roll tightly without tearing.
• Keep the streusel cold until it goes on top, for the same reason as any other streusel bake.
• This is the mildest of the braided loaves in the book, closer to a plain sweet bread than Mohnstriezel or Nuss-Striezel, and a good place to start if those feel like too much for the occasion.
• It keeps for 3 days at room temperature, wrapped, and is best the day it is baked while the streusel is still crisp.

Ingredient substitutions

• Instant yeast can be swapped for fresh yeast at roughly three times the weight, crumbled into the lukewarm milk with a pinch of the sugar and left for 10 minutes until foamy before mixing in.
• A handful of raisins, folded into the pudding cream before it goes onto the dough, is a good, simple variation.
• For a fruit version, scatter 200 g of sliced plums or apples over the pudding cream before rolling.
• A vanilla icing sugar drizzle in place of the streusel turns this closer to Mohnstriezel in finish, if that is preferred.