Procedure

1) In a bowl, prepare the yeast mixture: mix 100ml of lukewarm milk with the yeast and a teaspoon of the cane sugar and set aside for the yeast to activate.

2) Mix both types of flour in a separate bowl. Whisk the butter with sugar, milk, salt and egg yolks and add it to the flour. Also add the activated yeast mixture. Add the soaked raisins and knead into a smooth dough. Cover the bowl and leave the dough rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.

3) Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan.

4) Once the dough has risen, tip it onto a lightly floured worktop and split it into half. Working with the first half, split it into 9 equal parts and shape each of these into a long rope.

5) We recommend you complete this steps directly on a baking sheet lined with parchment. First, braid the four ropes. Next, make a braid out of three ropes and place this on top of the braid from four dough ropes. Lastly, braid the remaining two dough ropes and place them on the top. Using skewers, pin the bread down in three different places so that the bread retains its shape when baking.

6) Brush the braided bread with the whisked egg and sprinkle with some flaked almonds.

7) Bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes.

8) Repeat the process (steps 5 – 7) with the remaining dough.

9) Cool on a wire rack, slice and serve. Enjoy!