Cocoa Braided Sweet Bread

Steps

• 1
  Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sugar into the lukewarm milk, crumble in the yeast, and set aside to activate (approx. 5-10 minutes).
• 2
  Sift the flours into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the granulated sugar, salt, soft butter, egg yolk, water (200-250 ml), vanilla sugar, then the grated lemon zest, and finally the activated yeast. Knead the dough by hand or with a machine. If the dough is too sticky, you can add a little more flour; if it's too dry, you can loosen it with a little milk.
• 3
  Cover the kneaded dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (30-45 minutes).
• 4
  On a lightly floured surface, knead the risen dough and divide it into 3 portions. Knead each dough portion individually, form them into balls, and cover with a clean kitchen towel, letting them rest for 10 minutes.
• 5
  Roll out each dough ball individually, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with cocoa powder mixed with granulated sugar. Roll up each dough piece from the longer side, and lightly moisten the edge to help the dough stick together.
• 6
  Roll each coiled strip individually, then braid the 3 strips together. Place the braided sweet bread into a loaf pan lined with baking paper and cover with a clean kitchen towel, letting it rest for 20 minutes.
• 7
  Before baking, brush the sweet bread dough with a little milk, then bake in a preheated oven at 165 degrees Celsius for 45-50 minutes.
• 8
  Once beautifully golden brown, leave it to cool in the turned-off oven for 5 minutes with the oven door ajar. Then carefully remove it from the pan and let it cool on a wire rack.