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Tsoureki
By Maria A. Pardalis
 Easter is indisputably the most sanctified and popular religious holiday in Greece. Traditions include candlelight night church services, a fifty day fast, family gatherings, dyed crimson red eggs, and an elaborate spread of food and sweet delicacies. The Easter feast in Greek homes is centered on whole spit roasted lamb and fragrant baked goods such as koulourakia, flaounes, kalitsounia, and the globally admired Tsoureki, a sweet braided bread made especially for the celebration. Tsoureki is typically baked on Holy Thursday and not eaten until Easter Sunday. This brioche-like bread is also called Lambrospomo, which translates to shining-bread or the Epiphany bread and represents the light given to Christians by Christ’s Resurrection.
Fluffy and moist, Tsoureki bakes up plump in the oven and is perfumed with the essence of mahlepi, the seeds of Mediterranean wild cherries, and mastic, the crystallized resin from the mastic tree. Check your local specialty stores or online for hard-to-find Greek ingredients. They are essential in making a traditional and flavorful loaf of Tsoureki.
You can adorn your tsoureki with red hard boiled eggs to make it more festive, or simply garnish with almonds and sesame seeds. Leaving out the egg will allow you to freeze half the batch so your family and you can enjoy this exquisite sweet bread year round.
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Bake time: 30 minutes at 350 degrees
Prep time: at least 3 1/2 hours
Makes: 8 medium loaves
Note: The dough must rise three times before baking, so be sure to allow enough time to bake the bread completely.
Ingredients:
- 4 cups whole milk, lukewarm
- ½ pound fresh yeast
- 12 whole eggs, separated
- 28 cups all purpose flour
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon mastic
- 1 teaspoon mahlepi (or vanilla extract)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons while milk, beaten (for glaze)
- Sesame seeds and/or blanched almonds (for garnish)
- Hardboiled dyed red eggs for decoration (optional)
Preparation:
- In a large bowl, cream butter, sugar, mastic, mahlepi, salt and egg yolks together until well blended. Add egg whites and continue to mix, about 10 minutes.
- Pour warm milk in a bowl and stir in yeast and a teaspoon sugar to help rise. Allow to rise, about 3 minutes. Add yeast to butter mixture and blend well. Slowly add flour, one cup at a time, into large bowl mixture. Mix until well blended.
- Using your hands, knead the dough well. Cover bowl with a cloth and let rise at room temperature until it doubles in size, about 2 hours. Then knead again to release any air bubbles and cover and let rise again for another hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Turn the dough out onto a generously floured work area. Cut a 10 ounce piece of dough off and separate into 3 balls. Roll each piece into a 12 to 14 inch long rope. Press the ends of the three ropes together and braid. Place each loaf on a greased cookie sheet or if you wish to shape into a wreath, place in a round bread pan. Let rise for 20 to 30 minutes until they double in size.
- Brush with beaten egg and milk mixture. Decorate with sesame seeds and almonds. Lastly, if using, add the red eggs into the braid and bake for about 30 minutes or until golden.
Allow to cool and serve sliced as is or with butter and jam. Tsoureki is also wonderful for breakfast and makes perfect French toast.
Καλό Πάσχα kαi Καλή Ανάσταση!
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| ©2011 NEOCORP MEDIA |
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