Yesterday was a great making day. Hand made cards, Swedish braided bread (Zopf or Challa), and a fantastic sweet potato curry were all part of the day’s activities!

I found this recipe for Swedish Braided Bread or Zopf on one of my favorite blogs, Once Upon a Cakestand. The author of the blog, Myriam, is a cookbook author who lives in Zurich and she always has amazing recipes to share. (I’ve converted her measurments in parenthesis .

RECIPE
500g zopf/challa flour – or just plain white flour (about 4 1/2 cups)
20g fresh yeast (1 packet of yeast)
2,5 dl milk (a little more than a cup of milk)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
80g soft butter, cut in cubes (about 6 tablespoons)
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out
1 egg yolk & a tiny pinch of sugar for glaze

mix the flour with salt and sugar and put in the bowl of your stand mixer with the dough hook attached. add the butter cubes. now mix the milk with egg, fresh yeast and the vanillaseeds and add to the dry ingredients. start mixing on low speed, then increase and mix for about 10 minutes until you end up with a nice and smooth ball of dough. remove dough hook, form dough into a ball and let rest in a bowl – covered with plastic wrap for about an hour (or until the dough has doubled in size).

then cut dough in half and twiddle into about 60cm long and even rolls. lay the 2 ropes of dough over each other – so that they form a cross. start braiding, then pinch the ends together tightly and tuck them under. plache on sheet lined with parchment paper. let rest for 20-30 minutes.

heat oven to 220c° (425° farenheight) . mix the egg yolk with a tiny pinch of sugar and glaze the bread. bake challah/zopf in the middle of the oven (for 15-20 minutes) until golden brown on the outside and sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom of the challa.
let cool on a wire rack, then serve with raspberry or strawberry jam or loads of runny honey.

PS: if you have any leftovers – toasted slices of this challah/zopf make a wonderful base for a clubsandwich!!

The sweet potato curry is inspired from my dear friend Ms. Manty-Miller of Pleasant Eats. It is a quick, fresh, and wholly fulfilling winter stew to be had.

SWEET POTATO CURRY
1 15 oz. can of garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 bunch of kale, spinach, or chard
1 yellow onion, sliced
2-4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium sized sweet potatoes
2 cups brown rice
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon curry
pinch of cayenne
pinch of ginger
salt and pepper to taste
(I encourage flavor testing as you add spices, these spice measurements are for a pretty mild curry, so don’t be afraid to get a bit adventurous with them! Maybe you like a little more cumin than curry, or vice versa, give it a try!

Put the water on to boil the brown rice.
In a microwaveable bowl, add peeled and chopped sweet potatoes with an inch or two of water at the bottom. Microwave until softer but not mushy.
In another pan, heat the oil and add the garlic and onions, cook for about 5 minutes. Add the drained garbanzo beans, the whole can of tomatoes plus juice, and spices, simmer for a few minutes. Add the sweet potatoes and water they were microwaved in. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the chopped kale, chard, or spinach to the pan and cover for two minutes just to let it wither a bit. Stir and serve immediately over the cooked brown rice. Enjoy!

These cards were made from proofs of pages from the book I am working on. It is the first sneak peak!