1/2 c Water
2 pk Yeast
1 1/2 c Lukewarm milk
1/2 c Sugar
2 ts Salt
2 Eggs
1/2 c Shortening
7 1/2 c Flour
2 ts Lemon rind grated
1/4 ts Mace
1 c Raisins
1 c Blanched almonds
Maraschino cherries halved
Pecan halves
1 Egg yolk
1 tb Water
Chopped
Mix together the water, yeast, milk, sugar, salt, eggs, shortening,
half the flour, the lemon rind, mace, raisins, and almonds. Add
flour until dough is smooth and workable. Knead on a floured board
until smooth and elastic. Put in a greased bowl, turn to coat, cover
with a damp tea towel and place in a warm spot to rise until double,
about 1 1/2 hours. Punch dough down. Divide in half. Set one half
aside and divide the other into 4 equal parts. Shape three of the
pieces into 14 inch long strands and braid on a lightly greased
cookie sheet (you may want to arrange this diagonally. These get
big!). Fasten ends together and tuck under. Take fourth piece and
divide in thirds and make a second smaller braid to go on top of the
first. Repeat with other half of dough on a second greased cookie
sheet. Cover each braid loosely with damp tea towels and let rise
for 45 minutes to an hour. For decoration, gently press halved
maraschino cherries (well rinsed) and/or pecan halves into joints of
braids. Brush loaves with a glaze made from egg yolk and 1 Tbsp
water, and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes, until golden brown,
but not dark. When loaves have cooled completely, mix a
confectioner's sugar glaze of four Tbsp butter, about 1/3-1/2 c milk,
and confectioner's sugar until the consistency is thick but will
still run down the sides, and drizzle glaze over the tops of the
loaves.
In my house we always had Bohemian Braid on Christmas morning. Hubby
doesn't like it because it has nuts and raisins, and prefers a
particular type of kuchen his mom used to make. ("It's an old family
recipe," he told me, so I asked his mom for it, and she pulled out one
of her Woman's Day cookbooks. . .) I'll have to track it down. It's
in one pile of paper or another. But here's the Bohemian Braid (and
someday soon I'll upgrade MasterCook and this may turn out better
looking.)
* From the Polka Dot Cottage, 1-201-822-3627, NJ's BBS for Homemakers!
Posted by FAYLEN on 12-11-95
