Whisk the egg and in a small bowl. Remove 1 tablespoon of the egg mixture and set aside in a separate bowl.
1 egg
Add the yeast to the lukewarm milk. Leave for the yeast to activate (approx. 10 min). You should see some small bubbles forming on the surface.
2 teaspoon instant yeast, 250 ml milk
Now mix together the remaining egg, yeast-milk mixture, flour, butter, sugar and salt. Knead with a dough hook, using a hand or stand mixer for 5 minutes. Leave the dough to rest for further 5 minutes. Then knead the dough again for another 5 minutes. (The total kneading time should be 10 minutes in total).
500 g flour, 60 g sugar, 80 g butter, 1 teaspoon salt
Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave to rest for at least 1 hour.
After this time the dough should have roughly doubled in size. Remove from the bowl and knead on a floured surface (or a non-stick baking mat) for about 5 minutes by hand.
Divide the dough into three balls. Weigh the balls to make sure they are equal in size. (mine were about 260 g/ 9 oz each).
Now form them into 3 rolls of equal length. They should be around 40 cm/16 inch long.
Line a baking tray with parchment paper. ( This means you do not have to move the bread after braiding) . Place the rolls on the parchment paper and braid a plait. (see post for illustration).
Cover the braid with a tea towel and leave the rise for a further 45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180°C or 356°F.
Using a pastry brush cover the Hefezopf with the remaining whisked egg. Sprinkle the almonds on top. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
3 tablespoon almond slices
Leave to cool before serving.