Last weekend I found a cube of fresh yeast in my fridge that was almost expired so I decided to surprise my boyfriend with a twisted roll, the first I ever made. It looked nicer in the Lecker magazine but it was very delicious. I know a lot of people that are afraid of yeast doughs because they heard it is difficult – it’s not! A yeast dough is pretty easy and most of the work is done by the yeast itself while you can put your attention on other important stuff 🙂 No aluminium, no draft, heavy kneading, no machines, pre-dough … there are tons of things that are common sense about yeast doughs and that may have scared you off. You can forget almost all of this (except for the draft), I swear, no lie 🙂

For the dough:

• 200 ml milk
• 1 cube fresh yeast
• 500 g flour
• 50 g sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 50 g butter

Heat the milk until lukewarm, if it is too hot let it cool, otherwise you will kill the yeast. Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk and mix with a wooden spoon. Sift the flour into a bowl and form a hole into the middle. Pour in the milk-yeast mixture, sprinkle with sugar and salt and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile put the butter out of the fridge and dice it.  Have a cup of coffee and be delighted by your baking skills. Add the diced butter and the egg and mix well either with your hands or a mixer until the dough forms to a ball and a little more. The dough should be well combined and not sticky any more. Put a kitchen towel over the bowl and let the dough do all the work itself at a warm spot for 40 minutes, just make sure it does not stand in draft. Now have another cup of coffee and celebrate yourself because you are awesome.

For the filling:

• 2 tbsp cinnamon
• 50 g sugar
• 60 g butter
• 10 g vanilla sugar
• 300 g Marzipan
• 1 egg (beaten)

Cut the Marzipan into pieces and work in the egg using a fork. Melt the butter and let it cool. Last mix the cinnamon and sugar together and set aside. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a size of 35 x 65 cm. Brush with two thirds of the butter and spread the Marzipan, leave a 2 cm margin on the long sides of the rectangle. Scatter the cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly and roll the whole thing up from the wide side. Transfer the roll to a sheet of parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to cut the roll lengthwise almost to the end, not completely! Twist the two parts and lay to a crown. Transfer the sheet to a baking tray, brush with the rest of the butter, cover with the kitchen towel and let it rest for 20 minutes at a warm place. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 175° C (with fan) and bake for 25-30 minutes. If the roll gets too brown after 20 minutes, cover it with aluminum foil. Remove the roll with the paper from the tray and let it cool. Get yourself another cup of coffee and a large piece of your amazing work, you did a fantastic job and you deserve it!