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Braided Saffron Bread

Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment or baking paper.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 teaspoon saffron ground in a mortar
  • 2/3 cup water piping hot
  • 1 1/2 pounds white bread flour
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons butter cut into quarter inch cubes
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons fast acting yeast 1 package
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons hunny
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/4 cup milk room temperature, divided

Instructions

  • Grind the saffron in mortar.
  • Using an oven proof bowl, mix the hot water with the saffron and let it sit for a couple of hours.
  • Using a large mixing bowl,  add the flour and then mix int the butter until the cubes of butter are covered with flour and start to disappear into the flour.
  • Mix in the yeast and salt
  • Add the saffron liquid, honey, egg and one cup of milk. Mix using your hand (Paul Hollywood style) or use a mixer at very low speed.  Add more of the milk if the dough seems too be too dry.
  • Coat your hands and work surface with flour. Turn the dough on to the work surface and kneed for 10 minutes (about 5 with a dough hook on a mixer).  The dough should be smooth and elastic.  It should also keep its shape so you can braid it later.
  • Put the dough back into the mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let the dough rise for an 90 to 120 minutes - until it doubles in size.
  • Coat your hands and work surface with flour.  Punch the dough down and then turn it out onto the work surface. Cut the dough into 4 equal portions.
  • Roll each piece of dough into a long rope, about 18 inches long. You will need to look up how to make a braid with 4 pieces of rope somewhere on the internet.
  • Place the 4 ropes parallel to each other on your lined baking sheet and pinch the ends together.  Then braid them loosely.  Pinch the ends together and tuck them underneath the loaf.  I usually need to look up a couple of internet sources to get it right.
  • Leave the braided loaf on the lined baking sheet for about an hour, until it is doubled in size.  It helps to put the sheet into a big plastic bag like a kitchen waste bag and inflate the bag so it does not touch the loaf.
  • Preheat your oven to 450 ºF.
  • Take the loaf out of the inflated bag and brush it with beaten egg.
  • Bake at 450 ºF for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 ºF and bake for another 20 minutes.  The bread should be a deep golden brown color and sound hollow when you thump it.
  • Cool the loaf on a wire rack.  Serve with butter.  mmm mmm mmm.