Recipe | Sweet
Krantz - Plaited Yeast Cake

Galit loves Krantz - a plaited a yeast cake with layers of chocolate or poppy seed spread. Apparently the chocolate variety is German in origin, but the poppy seed variation is middle eastern. I've tweaked my original recipe to use the proportions recommended by Yaffa Wainer in honour of the fact that Galit still remembers eating Jaffa's moist yeast cake as a child. Yaffa makes small loaves and keeps most in the freezer.

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Krantz
Plaited large loaf

  • Preheat oven to 180° C.

15 grams active dried yeast (25 grams fresh yeast)
150 grams tepid milk
[Optional] 1 teaspoon clear honey

  • Mix in a bowl
  • Leave until yeast starts to froth (~ 5-10 min)
  • [If using Fresh yeast the crumble 25 grams directly into the flour, and add milk with rest of the ingredients.]

500 grams strong white flour (plus extra for kneading)
50-100 grams castor sugar (I now use 50 grams)
50-100 grams butter, softened (I now use 100 grams)
100 grams beaten eggs (about 2)
5 grams salt
[Optional] 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

  • Add to a large bowl
  • Add the yeast mixture.
  • Mix (I use setting 1 on my KitchenAid)
  • Knead on a slightly floured surface until smooth but a little sticky (~5-7 minutes)
    • (or mix in a mixer with a dough hook until dough is smooth and a bit sticky, about 5 min. I used setting 2 on my KitchenAid. I then finish with 1-2 minutes of manual kneading.)
  • A cool stiff dough is easier to manage in the next step so leave to rise in the fridge overnight (or, if you're short of time, in a warm place for 1 hour then in the fridge to cool down).
  • Shape and fill (see below)
  • Leave to rise until doubled (~1-2 hours)
  • Bake the Kranz until brown and puffed (~40-45 min for large loaves; ~30 for small loaves and buns).
  • Remove from oven
  • Glaze if appropriate and desired

Shape Options

You've got the normal bread choices for shapes: untinned loaves, tinned loaves, and buns. Whether tinned or untinned the loaves are plaited. Your buns and loaves can be big or small. I've tried all these variations. At the moment I favour small buns as these have more crust and I like them with coffee for breakfast. Galit likes small tinned loaves as you can decided how much you want at a sitting and spare loaves can be frozen.

Plaited Loaf

This is the classic Krantz shape. The recipe makes two normal loaves or four small loaves (tins 19 cm x 10 cm x 6 cm). You can make the loaves with or without tins. Most commercial bakeries make Krantz without a tin so the loaves spread and are flattish. Yaffa uses small loaf tins.

  • Divide dough into two (or four)
  • For each piece of dough:
    • Roll one piece of dough into rectangular shape (roughly 25 cm long, 1/2 cm thick). Bear in mind this is going to end up in a loaf tin, so ensure that the short side of the rectangle is about the same length as the loaf tin.
    • Spread 1/2 (or 1/4) the Filling of choice over the dough rectangle.
    • Roll into a very tight roulade.
    • Cut the roll lengthwise, i.e. from one end to another, and separate the two halves so the layers of filling are showing.
    • Plait the two halves together loosely, keeping the cut sides face upwards and outwards.
    • Place in greased loaf tin, if you're going to use one, or on a greased baking tray.

Buns

These are like a cinnamon swirl but taller. Gail's - a speciality baker in London - makes a wonderfully tall very but they use special individual tins for these.

  • Roll the dough into rectangular shape (roughly 30 cm wide and 50 cm long, 1/2 cm thick).
  • Brush the top edge with a little water so it will stick when you roll it. 
  • Spread the Filling of choice over the dough rectangle leaving a 1 cm border around the edges.
  • Roll into a very tight roulade.
  • Trim the ends
  • Cut the roll into equal sized slices, either 9, 12 or 20 pieces depending on how big/many you want.  Ainsley Harriott has some breakfast buns like this; he makes 9 with this quantity of dough. But at that size they are quite big ... bigger than Galit can eat at a sitting. Marie Haviv makes 20 small pieces. I tend to make 12.
  • Place on a greased baking tray.

Filling Options

You'll need a filling. Chocolate or Poppy Seed are traditional. Whatever you choose, it will have to be spreadable.

Galit loves Poppy Seed but I tend to Cinnamon & Sugar and a Chocolate variant.

Some of these fillings are from Recipe Goldmine: Kuchen Recipes.

Chocolate Drink Filling

This variation is made from a kid's chocolate drink. I don't add sugar as the drink is already sweet. If I was in New Zealand I'd use Milo but we use an Israeli drink.

200 grams butter, softened
10 tablespoons chocolate drink powder

  • Mix

Cinnamon & Sugar

200 grams butter, softened
1 cup sugar

  • Mix

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
[Optional] 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

  • Add & Mix

I also use a cinnamon & sugar topping with this variant. Assemble with the filling as described above. Then mix 5 tablespoons of sugar with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle the topping over the Krantz before it is left to rise for the second time. 

Poppy Seed and Dried Fruit Filling

1 cup black poppy seed

  • Grind poppy seeds

1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey or syrup
1/2 cup chopped almonds
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon chopped citron
1/4 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup granulated sugar

  • boil with milk and all other ingredients but apple, until thick.
  • If not sweet enough, add more sugar.
  • Cool.

1 tart apple, grated, or 1/4 cup currant or raspberry jelly or jam

  • Add the apple etc when cool mixture is cool

Chocolate Nut Spread Filling

100 grams Caster Sugar
100 grams Walnuts

  • Blitz in a blender

200 grams Plain Chocolate, roughly chopped

  • Mix with nuts

Easy Chocolate Nut Spread Filling

400 grams Nutella

Cocoa  Filling

200 grams butter, softened
1 cup sugar

  • Mix

5 tablespoons cocoa powder
[optional] 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

  • Add & Mix

Almond Paste Filling

3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar

  • Cream butter and sugar

1/2 cup almonds, blanched
Grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1 egg, slightly beaten

  • add grated almonds, lemon rind and only enough egg to make a paste.

Nut Paste Filling

3 egg whites

  • Beat egg whites stiff;

1 cup granulated sugar

  • add sugar gradually.

1 1/2 cups grated nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • Fold in the nuts and vanilla.

Walnut Filling

2 cups grated walnuts
1/4 cup granulated sugar

  • Mix nuts and sugar,

1/4 cup syrup or honey

  • add enough syrup or honey to make a paste.

Prune Filling

1 pound prunes, boiled
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

  • Stone and rub boiled prunes through colander. Mix well with juice, sugar and lemon. Use to fill turnovers (Kipfel) or coffee cakes, or as a filling for two-crust or open-faced pies.

Glaze

Some fillings suit having a sugar glaze on top. I do this for all fillings except the Cinnamon & Sugar variant.

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

  • Boil sugar and water
  • Simmer until thickened
  • Cool sugar water
  • Brush cool sugar water over hot cake 3-4 times until well coated (or brush hot sugar water over cool cake)
  • Cool
  • You can keep for a week. If it is summer then leave covered in cling film in the fridge. Otherwise freeze.