Austrian Brioche (Germzopf)

• 500 g flour
• 250 ml milk
• 20 g yeast (fresh cake works the best)
• 2 eggs
• 75 -100 g sugar (i prefer brown)
• 100 g butter (melted)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon, cest (optional)
• 2 tablespoons almonds (slivers or "flakes")

1. Warm milk to medium heat, add sugar and yeast.
2. Stir until yeast has dissolved.
3. Add lemon cest, if using, and 1 egg to the warm milk/yeast/sugar mixture.
4. Sift 500g flour into a bowl and pour in milk mixture, salt and melted butter.
5. Knead to a soft and shiny dough using a mixer or kitchen machine/food processor. The longer you knead, the better/fluffier the result.
6. Form a ball out of dough and let rest covered with a kitchen towel until its volume has doubled (up to 1 hour guesstimate).
7. Separate dough into 3 equal portions, knead again and form long, inch thick rounds.
8. Braid/shape the three dough rolls like you would a pig tail.
9. Mix the second egg with a dash of salt and 1 tsp sugar.
10. Brush surface of dough with this mixture (keep a bit of this mixture for later) and let rest again for 30 minutes.
11. Then bake brioche at 180u0b0C for about 30-45 minutes. In case the surface darkens too soon, cover with aluminium foil.
12. Take brioche out about 5 minutes before it is done and brush with the rest of the egg glaze.
13. Sprinkle with almonds and return brioche (uncovered) to oven.
14. Bake until done.

milk, yeast, eggs, sugar, butter, salt, lemon, almonds

Taken from www.food.com/recipe/austrian-brioche-germzopf-491792 (may not work)