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Place the yeast and
the pinch of sugar in a small-size bowl, pour the lukewarm
water over the sugar and the yeast. Stir until they are
dissolved. Add 1 cup of the flour and stir until the mixture
is smooth. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let
it rise in a warm, draft-free place until frothy. (If
it doesn’t get frothy, that means the yeast is no longer
active and you will have to start again with fresh yeast.)
About 10 minutes.
In the bowl of a
heavy-duty electric mixer fitted with the dough hook,
mix 3 Tbl sugar, egg yolks and 50 gram margarine until
pale yellow, add yeast
mixture and the rest of the flour one cup at a time.
Knead the dough until
it forms into a rough ball, clean the sides of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Knead
the dough, adding flour as necessary to prevent the dough
from sticking to your hands and to the table, until the
dough is smooth, soft, and only very slightly sticky if
left to rest a minute.Place the dough in a large lightly
buttered bowl and turn the dough to butter all sides of
it. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set the dough
to rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk,
1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the environment.
Punch the
dough down to deflate it, then let it rise one more times.
Depending on the environment, this second risings can
take from 20 minutes to 45 minutes.
Turn the risen dough
out onto the floured work surface and knead until deflated.
Cut the dough into four equal parts and knead each into
a ball, gathering and pinching the seam side of the dough
together to form as smooth a ball as possible. (These
formed loaves can be tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and
refrigerated overnight. Allow extra time for refrigerated
loaves to rise in the following step.)
Roll out each piece
separately, spread with 1/4 of the 150 gram margarine,
cover with cocoa and sugar.
Roll to a log.
Braid each two logs together, place in a well buttered
loaf pan or bundt cake pan and let rise again.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake the bread for about 35 minutes. (I am not sure about
the exact baking time) |