Recipe courtesy of MySwitzerland.com

If you love bread, Switzerland is the country for you. There are over 200 different traditional breads, including 22 special cantonal bread varieties. When in Zurich, you might want to try Seri’s baguettes or croissants. A very popular bread, which you get everywhere in Switzerland, is a soft white loaf called “Zopf”. The dough is made from white flour, milk, eggs, butter and yeast, plaited into a braid and then brushed with egg yolk before baking. It’s traditionally eaten on Sunday mornings.

A Swiss Sunday brunch, though, without a Bernese plaited loaf is like Christmas without presents. The bread is especially delicious when you make it yourself and enjoy it warm from the oven. This plaited loaf originates from Bern and used to be baked as a Christmas or New Year gift. Today it is known and enjoyed throughout Switzerland, especially as part of a big, leisurely breakfast. The attractive plaited form isn’t altogether easy to achieve, but by following the instructions carefully you can soon master it.

Recipe

Preparation time: approx. 40 minutes
Rising time: approx. 2 hours
Baking time: approx. 40 minutes

Makes 1 loaf of approx. 1 1/2 kg or 2 loaves of approx. 750 g

Transfer plait to a baking sheet lined with baking parchment, brush with cream, leave to rise for approx. 30 minutes, glaze with egg-cream mixture.

Bake: Approximately 40 minutes on the bottom shelf of oven preheated to 200 °C. Remove, cool on wire rack.

Tips

• Make it easier: halve the dough before kneading. Knead, and leave to rise, in two halves.
• For 2 plaits, the rolls will be shorter, approx. 50 cm long. Reduce baking time by approx. 5 minutes.

Keeping time: Yeast bread is best eaten fresh.

Per 100 g: 10 g fat, 10 g protein, 49 g carbohydrate, 1387 kJ (332 kcal)

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Question 1: What do people do for fun in Bern?

Answer:

Urban Swimming. In summer masses of Bernese citizens can be found walking along the Aare river bank in order to jump into the Aare and drift downstream back into the city. Make sure to bring your swimsuit when visiting Bern and experience this iconic swimming tradition first hand. Between June and September the temperatures are ideal to indulge in the unique bathing culture of Bern.

Question 2: What’s one thing the public probably does NOT know about Bern?

Answer:

Albert Einstein – a name well known all over the world and one of the key figures of the 20th century. Albert Einstein (1879 – 1955) lived in Bern when he created his famous formula E=mc² in 1905 and with his special theory of Relativity revolutionized our conceptions of space and time. Einstein plays a significant role in Bern: Besides the one-of-a-kind Einstein Museum, his former residence is now open to the public and the Einstein House, the Einstein Route and the Einstein city tour, Bern is now also home to the distinct café, Einstein Kaffee.

Question 3: What has Bern contributed to the world?

Answer:

The world-famous Toblerone was invented in Bern in 1908. The triangular chocolate bar made from milk-chocolate, almonds, honey and nougat is sold all over the world and a major factor in establishing Switzerland’s image as a chocolate-producing country. To this day, every single bar sold in the world is produced in Bern. Can you spot the bear, Bern’s heraldic animal, hidden in the logo?

For further information about Bern, Switzerland, click-on Bern.

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