Poppy Seed Plaited Loaf

Dissolve yeast in warm water and add oil and sugar. Allow to sit for around 10 minutes until yeast starts to work, and mixture froths. Beat in 1 egg.

Combine flour and salt and then add in the wet ingredients. Mix dough until it starts to come together. Sprinkle a surface with plenty of flour and then pour out the bread dough (it will be very sticky). Gradually add more flour until you are able to knead the dough and only add more when the dough becomes too sticky to knead. The aim is to only use as much flour as needed—too much will result in a much drier bread.

Continue to knead dough until it is pliable and smooth (around 5–10 minutes) and then place back in the bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour.

Knock back the dough and form into a rough ball. Cut it into 2 pieces and set one aside. Taking the first piece, cut that into 3 reasonably equal pieces. For every piece, fold over each side to make a rough rectangle shape and, with the folded side underneath, start to roll the dough out into a long thin shape. Place on a baking tray lined with grease-proof paper. Do the same with the other two pieces so that you have three long braids of reasonably equal thickness and length (don’t worry too much about them being identical as it won’t matter so much when the bread has been baked).

With all three braids lined up alongside each other, place the top part of the two outside braids on top of the middle one. Start to braid the three pieces of dough together as you would hair. When you get to the end, tuck the bottom underneath the bread so that it holds in place when baking (do the same with the top, too). Repeat with the remaining dough so that you have two loaves.

Beat remaining egg. Brush egg wash all over the tops and sides of the loaves and then sprinkle with poppy seeds. Cover and let rise 45–60 minutes. Preheat oven to 200ºC (390ºF).

Bake for around 15 minutes, until bread is brown on top and bottoms sound hollow when tapped. Serve either warm from the oven or allow to cool completely. Enjoy!