This bread is the love child of the Jewish cholla and the French brioche: it is lighter and smoother than the former without being as rich as the latter. And like both its parents, it provides a feeling of both comfort and luxury, everyday and special occasion at the same time. The braid shape not only looks beautiful but makes it easy to tear a piece with your hand rather than slice, which is just how it should be eaten.
Will make one loaf, which is enough for 4–6 people
3 tbsp + ¼ cup/50ml + about 60ml warm milk
¾ oz/20g fresh yeast or 1 tbsp plus ¾ tsp dried yeast
1½ tbsp/25g sugar
2 cups/250g unbleached bread flour
½ tsp salt
1 whole egg
3 heaped tbsp /50g soft butter
milk or beaten egg to glaze
poppy seeds and salt to sprinkle (optional)
Heat 3 tbsp/50ml of the milk until it’s warm to the touch, then add the yeast and sugar and set aside until it starts to foam.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, egg and butter. Pour in the foaming milk-yeast mixture and mix to a smooth dough, adding as much of the additional milk as is needed. It should come together to a really smooth dough, and you need to work it until it goes all shiny. You can do this easily by hand, but if you prefer you can use a mixer bowl with a dough hook. Once the dough is all shiny, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place to proof until doubled in size.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a clean, flat surface—I don’t usually add any more flour, but if it sticks, use a little. Start rolling the dough to a long snake. It is best to roll from the middle outwards, repeating until the dough is approximately 30 in/75cm long.
Cut 10 in/25cm off one end of the dough snake and set aside. Arrange the remaining length as an upside down letter “U” on a lined baking tray. Lay the 10 in/25cm length in a straight line down the middle of the “U,” with one end resting on top of the dough at the center of the curve (this will form a little top-knot at one end of the finished braid). Now braid the three strips of dough as you would hair or string, but don’t tuck it tight: leave it loose so that the dough has room to proof. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place until it doubles in size.