500g Le Moulin Brioche flour
40g Le Moulin sugar
15g fresh yeast
230ml water
100g cold butter
For the filling:
160g ground almonds
60g Le Moulin sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
zest of ½ lemon
a pinch of salt
1 egg white
100g apricot jam
For the icing:
2 tbsp apricot jam
70g icing sugar
1 tbsp full fat milk
20g flaked almonds
Also needed:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp milk
Makes 2 Bretzels – Prep: 45mins – Proving: 2h + 2h setting of the icing – Oven: 25mins
In a large bowl of a freestanding mixer, mix the flour and sugar. Crumble in the fresh yeast and mix for a minute. Add the water and mix until a dough forms. Cut the butter into cubes, and gradually add to the dough, until all the butter is worked in – this will take about 5 minutes.
Cover the bowl with the dough with a teatowel and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling: put the almonds, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and pinch of salt in a bowl and mix. Add the egg white and apricot jam and mix, adding a bit of water if it seems too dry.
Turn the dough onto a flour-dusted work surface and roll into a rectangle approximately 50 x 35 cm. Spread the filling all over the rectangle, then roll up the dough onto itself, starting from the long end – the dough will be quite sticky. Cut the log lengthwise into two strips.
Carefully twist each strip so it looks like a curly straw, then twist into a pretzel shape and put onto two baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with two teatowels and leave to rise for 1h 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
Before the bretzels go in the oven, mix the egg yolk with the milk and brush each bretzel with the egg wash.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, brush the hot bretzels with apricot jam and transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
Once cool, make the icing: mix the icing sugar with the milk to become a thick icing. Toast the flaked almonds in a frying pan until browned.
Drizzle each bretzel with icing and sprinkle with almond flakes.
Leave to set for at least 2 hours before serving, so that the icing becomes firm.
STORAGE: The bretzels are best on the day they are baked. If you want to bake them a day ahead, just reheat them a bit in a warm oven before serving in the morning. I usually cut one of the bretzel into individual portions, which I freeze on the day of baking and lightly heat up in the microwave for breakfast throughout the week.
