Festive Flechte
A tongue twister in every sense of the word, this 'Flechte' (plait in German) is the most Christmassy, cosy and scrummy recipe that I've ever created.
It came about because I had made Paul Hollywood's 'Apricot Couronne' a while back and fell in love with the idea of having a fluffy brioche filled with sticky, delicious fruit. Seeing as Christmas is on its way I felt that a festive 'twist' (excuse the pun) was needed! So here we have it, a brioche plait filled with gorgeous homemade mincemeat, topped with a little white icing and sprinkled with flaked almonds. Just perfect.
Ingredients
For the dough
250g strong white bread flour
1 tsp salt
1x7g sachet of fast-action, dried yeast
50 g unsalted butter (very soft)
100ml full fat milk (room temp.)
1 medium egg (room temp.)
For the filling
1 jar of mincemeat (see recipe a few posts back)
To finish
4tbsp icing sugar
4 tsp water
1 tbsp flaked almonds
Method
1. To make the dough, put the flour in a large bowl. Add the salt to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other.
2. Add the butter, milk and egg then mix with a dough hook or just your hands until everything is incorporated and a ball begins to form.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 mins until it becomes silky and smooth.
4. Put the ball of dough in a large oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise for an hour.
5. Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and with a rolling pin, roll into a rectangle (about 25 x 30 cm).
6. Spread over a layer of mincemeat.
7. Then roll up like a swiss roll starting with the longest side so it is long and thin instead of short and fat.
8. Now, starting about 3cm from the end, cut the roll in half lengthways.
9. Then twist the two strands in and around each other and finally, press the ends together to keep it secure.
10. Transfer to a lined baking tray and cook for 25 mins at 200C until golden.
11. Once cooled, make the white icing by miking the sugar and water until you have a thin but not too runny consistency.
12. Drizzle over the plait then sprinkle over flaked almonds to finish!
13. I've just had a couple of slice for breakfast with a milky coffee which really did start of my day in the best possible way but this could be served for tea time or even given as a present!
