GERMAN ULM BREAD: ULMER BROT

To make four or five 8-inch cylindrical loaves.

12 cups unbleached white flour
3 (1/4 oz.) packages active dry yeast or three 3/5 oz. [18g] cakes fresh yeast
3 cups tepid milk, about
8 Tbsp. butter
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup finely diced candied lemon peel
Anise seeds
Fennel seeds
2 Tbsp. vanilla sugar or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten

Stir the yeast into the tepid milk and leave the mixture in a warm place for about 10 minutes. Add the flour, butter, sugar, lemon peel, a pinch each of anise and fennel, and the vanilla sugar or vanilla extract to make a firm dough.
Add more milk if necessary. Knead the dough well, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in volume--about one and a half hours.

Divide the dough into four or five equal portions. Shape each portion into a cylindrical loaf. With a sharp knife or a razor blade, make a long gash down the center of each loaf. Butter two or three baking sheets and place the loaves on them; let the loaves rise for 20 minutes. Then brush the loaves with beaten egg, but do not brush the egg into the gashes. Bake in a preheated 425 F. oven for 40 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when rapped.

Hans Karl Adam
Das Kochbuch aus Schwaben

From Olga