International Recipes
Houska (Braided Bread)
Ingredients
- 1 package yeast
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup scalded milk
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup margarine
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon mace
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- Mix the honey and warm water to dissolve, add yeast.
- In a small saucepan, heat the milk almost to boiling point, then remove from heat. Combine the scalded milk, sugar, margarine, and salt; cool to lukewarm.
- Stir 1 cup of flour into milk mixture, beat well. Stir in the yeast mixture. Add eggs and beat well. Add mace, raisins, and almonds. Add 3 more cups of flour, stirring to make a soft dough. Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding flour a little at a time to keep dough from sticking. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning the dough once to grease all
sides. Cover and let rise in a warm place until dough is double in size (about 1 hour).
- Punch down dough and divide into 5 pieces, 3 the same size, 2 slightly smaller. The 3 larger pieces are rolled out to form a 17-inch roll and then braided together. This is the bottom row. The 2 smaller pieces are rolled out and twisted together and placed on top of the 3-braid piece, tucking the ends under. Assemble on a cookie sheet with parchment paper on the diagonal. Let the Houska rise in a warm place until about double in size.
- Brush the tops with milk.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Brush the tops lightly with butter when the loaves are still warm for a softer crust.
Attribution
Submitted to recipegoldmine.com by Roy Vyskocil.