Instructions

1. Sift the flour in a big bowl. Crumble the yeast in, mix, and open a hole in the center.
2. In the center, add the sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, 1 egg, the lukewarm melted butter. Work with a fork, slowly incorporating some of the flour on the sides.
3. Slowly start pouring the milk, always working with the fork to incorporate all the flour.
4. Once a ‘raggedy’ dough starts to form, pour it onto a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes.
5. Put the dough back in the floured bowl, cover with a wet towel and let rise for 1 hour away from air draughts (I cover it with a towel and put it in the oven, turned off with the light on).
6. Put the raisins in a small bowl, add water just enough to cover them, let sit for 5-10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.
7. After the 60 minutes rising time, punch down the dough, add the raisins and work to incorporate.
8. Form a ball with the dough, then divide into 3 parts, more or less the same size (I used a scale).
9. With your hands, roll each dough ball into a rope, about 40 cm long. Put the 3 ropes in front of you and starting from the top, start to braid the ropes, sealing the ends together.
10. Transfer the braid to a rectangular baking pan lined with parchment paper and set back to rise, covered, away from air draughts, for about 30 minutes.
11. Preheat the oven to 400° F (200° C).
12. After that time, brush the lightly beaten egg on top of the bread.
13. Place on the lower rack of the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, covering the top of the bread with foil paper if you see it is getting too dark (I covered it at about half the cooking time).