Vianočka braided sweet bread

I bring you a very traditional braided bread in countries like the Czech Republic or Slovakia. Its name is vianočka and it is a soft sweet bread with a delicious vanilla touch . Its name comes from the word vianoce, which means Christmas, and the braid originally represented baby Jesus wrapped in his blanket. But nowadays it is not only done at Christmas, but is enjoyed throughout the year. The reason is very simple: it is so good that it would be a shame to eat it alone during such a short time of the year!

Are Vianočka and Challah the same thing?

When you see this bread, you have surely thought of the popular Jewish challah bread (challah), is that right? Well, the truth is that vianočka bread has nothing to do with it, except for the beautiful shape of a braided bread.

This bread today, vianočka, Unlike challah, it is made with butter instead of oil, milk instead of water, and quite a bit more sugar. Vanilla essence and lemon zest are also added. The result is a sweet bread, soft and light like a cloud , that melts in your mouth and disappears at the speed of light.

Bring it to the table for breakfast or as a snack, alone or with a little butter and seasonal fruit, with chocolate or jam. It always disappears very quickly.

Try the recipe and you will see that it will become your favorite breakfast.

Emile Henry Artisanal Bread Oven and Revol NO.W Mug

Ingredients

For preferment

• 150 g strong flour
• 150 g warm milk
• 2 g dry yeast

For the mass

• The preferment
• 600 g strong flour
• 225 g warm milk
• 110 g butter at room temperature
• 110 g sugar
• 7 g dry yeast
• 3 egg yolks L
• 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
• Grated peel of 1 lemon

To decorate

• 1 beaten egg to brush
• Laminated almonds

Elaboration

FIRST DAY
1) Prepare the preferment:

1. In a large glass jar, mix the strong flour with the yeast.
2. Add the milk and mix well until you obtain a homogeneous consistency.
3. Place the lid on top of the glass jar, but do not close it completely, and store it in the refrigerator for approximately 12 hours, ideally overnight. It should double the volume, but if it hasn't doubled the next day, continue with the recipe anyway.

SECOND DAY
Prepare the dough:

1. Approximately one hour before preparing the dough, take the preferment out of the refrigerator so that it can warm. Do the same with the eggs and butter.
2. Sift the flour into a bowl and pour the dry yeast on top. Mix with a spoon.
3. Add the sugar and lemon zest and mix again.
4. Add the milk, egg yolks, vanilla essence and butter and mix gently with your hands.
5. At the end, add the preferment and mix with your hands until the flour begins to absorb all the liquids well.
6. Pour the dough onto a counter and knead for 15 minutes with French kneading. You can also knead with the KitchenAid robot , with the hook accessory.
7. Form a ball from the dough and keep it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with a cotton cloth and let it rest at room temperature until the dough doubles in volume, approximately 3 hours.

3) Form the Vianočka

1. Once the dough has doubled in volume, remove the gas by pressing on it with your knuckles and knead it gently again on the counter, very lightly sprinkled with flour.
2. Separate the dough into 6 equal pieces and form each piece into a ball.
3. Let the balls rest for 10 minutes so that the gluten relaxes, covered with a cloth so that they do not dry out.
4. Meanwhile, you can prepare the base of the Emile Henry mold and spread it with a little butter. Spread the edges well too, so that the dough doesn't stick to you once it rises in the oven.
5. The lid of the mold, let it heat in the oven at 50 °C.
6. Form each ball into a churro, approximately 45 centimeters long.

Emile Henry artisan bread oven and Revol porcelain individual bowl

4) Bake the Vianočka

Discover the step by step in this video:

Grades

• Fermentation times are indicative and depend a lot on your ambient temperature at home. It may be less if your kitchen is warm or more if it is colder.
• You can make this type of bread in a baking tray, but I like to make it in the Emile Henry mold for several reasons:
• During the second fermentation the mold maintains a beautiful shape in the braid by growing tall and not wide.
• It is easier to cover it with its lid and not with plastic, so that the dough does not dry out during fermentation.
• By heating the lid before placing it on top we can accelerate the second phase of fermentation
• There are other variations of the recipe where raisins previously hydrated in rum are added to the dough , but in our house we prefer the option without raisins.
• If you forget to make the pre-ferment you can prepare the dough directly without the pre-ferment, but adding the pre-ferment ingredients to the dough. But I recommend, if possible, always do it with the preferment. This makes the braid come out even tastier, lighter and lasts longer.
• If it seems too big, you can make the recipe 2/3 of the quantity (so you don't have problems with the yolks separating). But around here this sweet bread always flies quickly and when we get used to it, we prepare more quantity. You can also make it whole and freeze the leftover piece to defrost or toast another day.
• If for any reason you get hard vianočka, it is ideal for making French toast.