-
Heat the milk and vanilla, stirring to combine in a small saucepan until warm. Do not boil.
-
Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm temperature.
-
In the bowl of your mixer, whisk together the lemon zest, flour, and 1 teaspoon of the sugar.
-
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and sprinkle the yeast into the well.
-
Pour about 1/4 cup of the vanilla milk on top of the yeast to dissolve it. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar over the top.
-
Scrape some flour off of the sides of the bowl with your hands and mix everything together to form ragged dough.
-
Cover the bowl with a clean dishtowel and let rest for 10 minutes
-
Sprinkle the dough with the salt. Add the rest of the milk and the 4 egg yolks. Use the dough hook attachment of your mixer (or your hands) to knead everything into a smooth dough (about 8 minutes)
-
Add 5 tablespoons of the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Knead again for 3 minutes until the dough becomes elastic.
-
Cover the bowl again with the dishtowel and let stand for 1 hour in a warm place.
-
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
-
Knead the dough again for a few minutes.
-
Divide the dough into three equal portions (use a kitchen scale).
-
On a lightly floured work surface, roll each portion out into a log 2 feet long.
-
Braid the three dough strands together.
-
On the last 4 inches of both ends, roll them out 8 inches long (4+3/4 inches wide) and use a sharp knife to cut the ends into three strands. Roll each stand to create log shapes, then braid them together.
-
The result should be a long fat braid in the middle with small long, thinner braids on the ends.
-
Transfer the entire dough braid to the prepared baking sheet. Pull both ends down and tuck them under the fat middle braid, forming two loops.
-
Cover with the dishtowel and let rest for 15 minutes.
-
Preheat the oven to 375 F.
-
Beat the egg white in a small separate dish.
-
Brush the braided dough with the egg white and sprinkle the pearl sugar over the top.
-
Cut the remaining butter into small pieces and scatter over the top.
-
Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the pretzel is golden brown.
-
Remove from oven and let cool to warm before serving.
-
Serve with butter and jam.