Russian Easter Bread Kulich Food

RUSSIAN EASTER BREAD (KULICH)

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Heat milk, sugar, butter, saffron, and salt in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
• Meanwhile, stir together yeast, warm water, and pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Put flour in a large bowl and make a large well in center. Lightly beat 3 eggs and add to well along with milk and yeast mixtures. Carefully stir together with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning to coat with oil, and let rise, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours.
• Punch down dough and let rise again, covered with towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Form loaves:
• Generously butter soufflé dishes. Punch down dough and divide in half. Loosely wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap and set aside. Cut away one third of remaining piece of dough and reserve, then roll remaining two thirds into a large ball and transfer to a soufflé dish.
• Roll reserved piece of dough into an 18-inch-long rope on work surface with palms of your hands. Cut rope into 3 equal pieces and lay pieces vertically side by side on work surface, about 1/4 inch apart. Gather 3 ends farthest from you and press them together, then braid strands, pressing together other ends to secure braid. Lay braid over top of dough in soufflé dish (trim braid if using coffee cans). Form another loaf with remaining dough in same manner.
• Cover loaves with clean kitchen towel and let rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours (loaves will rise about 1 inch above rims of dishes).
• Bake loaves:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Lightly beat remaining egg with a large pinch of salt, then brush egg over top of each loaf. Bake loaves until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 1 hour. Turn loaves out onto a rack, then turn right side up and cool completely.

RUSSIAN EASTER BREAD KULICH

Steps:

• In the bowl of a stand mixer or another large mixing bowl combine warm milk, eggs, yeast, sugar, warm melted butter, salt, sour cream and vanilla. Add 480g/4 cups flour to make a batter consistency of sour cream. Cover with a cling wrap and a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
• Add 600g/5 more cups of flour; one cup at a time or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands to make a very soft and elastic dough. Stir in chocolate chips or raisins, candied citrus peel or nuts. (Anything you like in your sweet bread). Cover and let dough rise another 2 hours in a warm place. The rising process will take longer if your house is not very warm.
• Divide dough evenly into three deep 8" baking pans, that have been well-oiled. Try not to handle the dough too much. Let dough rise uncovered in a warm place for additional 2 hours or until you see a significant rise.
• Bake at 350F/180C for 35-40 minutes or until golden. Remove from the pan and cook on a wire rack.
• Once the loaves are at room temperature, melt white chocolate in a double boiler over low heat and cover the tops of bread with it. Use sprinkles to decorate.

RUSSIAN KULICH

Steps:

• Stir together yeast, 1/4 teaspoon sugar, and warm milk in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 1 1/2 cups flour and cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Beat 4 yolks with remaining sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at TK speed until mixture is thick and pale, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in brandy and salt.
• Stir yeast dough to deflate. Add yolk mixture and butter and stir until well blended. Beat 3 egg whites in a bowl with cleaned beaters until they hold soft peaks. Fold whites into batter, then stir in remaining 2 1/2 cups flour. Cover bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour 10 minutes.
• Stir dough to deflate, then stir in almonds and raisins.
• Butter 4 clean (10 1/2-ounce) coffee cans. Line bottom of each with a round of parchment or wax paper. Dust insides with flour, knocking out excess. Divide dough evenly among cans. Let dough rise in cans, covered with a towel, until about 1/2 inch from rim, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Whisk together remaining yolk and water, and lightly brush over tops of dough. Bake loaves in cans until tops are golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Turn loaves out onto a rack, turn right side up, and let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Sift powdered sugar into a bowl, then stir in lemon juice. Spread glaze over tops of loaves, letting it drip down the sides. Let loaves stand until icing is set, about 15 minutes.

KULICH (RUSSIAN EASTER CAKE)

Steps:

• Place golden raisins into a bowl, drizzle with vodka, and allow raisins to soften overnight.
• Mix 1 teaspoon sugar into lukewarm water in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Stir yeast into the water and let stand until the yeast mixture is frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Heat milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until very warm but not simmering. Stir in saffron threads and cardamom, remove from heat, and let the milk mixture stand until lukewarm.
• Transfer yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir milk mixture, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 cup flour into the yeast mixture, beating until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Mix melted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, orange blossom honey, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl. Beat butter mixture into the batter, then beat in eggs and egg yolk.
• Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour into the dough. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup flour onto a work surface and knead dough until it holds together, about 5 minutes; knead soaked golden raisins and 1/2 cup almonds into the dough until well distributed.
• Form dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl; turn dough around in the bowl several times to coat outside of dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch down dough, knead a few times, and divide dough into 4 pieces. Coat inside of clean 14-ounce cans with butter. Line cans with parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, place into a can, and press dough lightly against the inside bottom of can.
• Cover cans with a cloth and allow dough to rise to the top of the cans, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place a baking sheet into the oven; place the cans of dough upright into oven on baking sheet. Bake until kulich are risen and lightly browned, 45 to 50 minutes.
• Let kulich cool in the cans for about 15 minutes before gently removing from cans to finish cooling on racks.
• Beat egg white in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy; beat in confectioners' sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Beat lemon juice into frosting.
• Frost the tops of the kulich and sprinkle tops with 2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds. Refrigerate leftovers.

RUSSIAN KULICH BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, 1/4 cup of sugar and milk, mixing until yeast and sugar have dissolved. Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
• In a bowl, combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolks. Add the yeast-flour mixture from step 1, stirring well. Add vanilla, cardamom, salt and enough of the 3-3 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Stir in raisind, almonds and orange rind.
• In a small bowl, beat 2 egg whites untill stiff. Fold them into th dough made in step 2. Knead until asmooth and elastic dough forms. Place in a greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and let to rise until doubled in size.
• Coat a kulich pan with cooking spray. Punch down the dough and knead for a few times. Place it in the prepared pan, cover with greased plastic wrap and leave to rise until the dough reaches the top of the pan.
• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
• While Kulich is baking, prepare glaze by combining in a small bowl the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, almond extract and enough water to make a smooth, runny glaze.
• Remove Kulich from oven and let to cool for 10 minutes. Unmold from pan and cool on a wire rack. While still slightly warm, drizzle glaze over the top. To serve, cut of the crown and slice base into rounds. T keep any leftovers moist, replace the crown.

RUSSIAN EASTER CAKE RECIPE FOR KULICH

Steps:

• Optional: if children won't be eating this, soak the sultanas and raisins overnight in vodka, cognac or brandy.
• Use a sieve to sift the flour into a big mixing bowl, then add the salt and butter and combine, before adding the sugar and yeast.
• In a separate bowl or measuring jug, beat the egg, add the tepid milk and mix, then add this to the mixing bowl of flour, etc., and combine everything until you have a soft dough.
• Dust flour onto your kitchen counter, transfer the dough, add the dried fruit, knead until well combined (about 3-5 minutes) and the dough is smooth, then form it into a ball.
• Butter a large mixing bowl, transfer the ball of dough, cover it with a clean cotton tea towel, and leave it to rise for one hour.
• Cut baking paper into rounds to fit in the bottoms of three 400 ml tin cans and to wrap within the interior of each can; the larger interior pieces of baking paper should be large enough so that the pieces poke out above the tin by about a third of the size of the can.
• Using a pastry brush, butter the bottom of the tins, place the paper rounds on the base and butter the top of the round, then butter the larger interior pieces of baking paper.
• Dust your kitchen counter with a little flour again, transfer the dough, knock back the dough, then form it into a ball again, place it back in the bowl, cover it once more, and leave it for half an hour.
• Transfer the dough for the last time to the kitchen counter, lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough into one long cylindrical shaped piece, which you should cut into three equally-sized pieces or around 5cm in length.
• Place each piece of dough into the tin cans that you earlier lined with buttered paper, cover the cans with the clean cotton tea towel, leave them to rise for around 20-30 minutes, and preheat your oven to 240°C.
• When the dough has risen to 7-8cm up the tin can, transfer the cans to the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or so (check them at 20 minutes) until you have pale golden-brown loaves. To check that they are completely baked, turn the can upside down and tap on its base with a knife; it should sound hollow.
• Wearing oven mitts, gently shake each Easter cake out of the can into your hand, then leave them on a wire oven rack on the kitchen counter to cool.
• Once the cakes are cool, prepare the icing: use a sieve to sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then slowly add the lemon juice, continually stirring until completely combined and thickened. If too thin, add a little more sugar and combine.
• Transfer the cakes to a serving plate, spoon the icing onto the top of the cakes, allowing the icing to drip down the sides, then place pieces of dried fruit on the cake tops and sprinkle around the base. Serve with quality butter.

RUSSIAN EASTER BREAD

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Heat milk, sugar, butter, saffron, and salt in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
• Meanwhile, stir together yeast, warm water, and pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Put flour in a large bowl and make a large well in center. Lightly beat 3 eggs and add to well along with milk and yeast mixtures. Carefully stir together with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning to coat with oil, and let rise, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours.
• Punch down dough and let rise again, covered with towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Form loaves:
• Generously butter soufflé dishes. Punch down dough and divide in half. Loosely wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap and set aside. Cut away one third of remaining piece of dough and reserve, then roll remaining two thirds into a large ball and transfer to a soufflé dish.
• Roll reserved piece of dough into an 18-inch-long rope on work surface with palms of your hands. Cut rope into 3 equal pieces and lay pieces vertically side by side on work surface, about 1/4 inch apart. Gather 3 ends farthest from you and press them together, then braid strands, pressing together other ends to secure braid. Lay braid over top of dough in soufflé dish (trim braid if using coffee cans). Form another loaf with remaining dough in same manner.
• Cover loaves with clean kitchen towel and let rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours (loaves will rise about 1 inch above rims of dishes).
• Bake loaves:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F
• Lightly beat remaining egg with a large pinch of salt, then brush egg over top of each loaf. Bake loaves until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 1 hour. Turn loaves out onto a rack, then turn right side up and cool completely.
• Cooks' note:
• Bread can be made 1 day ahead and kept, wrapped in plastic wrap, at room temperature or frozen 2 weeks.

PASKA EASTER BREAD RECIPE (KULICH)

Steps:

• Pour enough rum or warm water over the dried fruits to keep them submerged and allow them to rehydrate for 1 hour, or up to 1 week in advance. Cover the bowl and refrigerate if doing this more than 1 hour in advance. Then, drain the dried fruits and pat with paper towels to remove all moisture from the outside. Set aside or refrigerate.
• Prep: Grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray, set aside.Measure and prep all of the ingredients. Weigh the ingredients for best results.Check/proof your yeast if you're unsure if the yeast is still active, or if you're using active dry yeast instead of instant dried yeast.
• Combine:To a bowl of a stand mixer or a bread maker add the ingredients in the following order: 4 eggs, 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, 2 tbsp + 1 tsp of milk or water, 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 1/4 tsp of yeast and give a quick stir with a spoon until it's chunky. Then fit the mixer with a dough hook and knead on low speed until it barely comes together.
• Knead: Then knead on medium-low speed for about 20 minutes (on a KitchenAid stand mixer - speed 3). If using the bread machine it should be turned on to the 1.5 hour dough cycle for a 2 lb white bread loaf. The dough will be thick at this point, this is OK.Check for gluten development (windowpane test). To do this take a walnut-sized piece of dough, flatten it out, then slowly stretch it until you can make it very thin and almost translucent. If the dough tears instead of getting thin and transparent continue kneading until it gets to this stage. It might take more or less time depending on many factors. Go by the windowpane test and not the time.
• Add butter and salt: Next, add butter in halves, in small cubes and continue kneading until the butter is fully incorporated about 15-20 minutes. You might have to break the dough into small chunks to make the incorporation with the butter easier. DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FLOUR - it's ok if the dough is on the runny side. As continue kneading it will hold shape better, but still should not be firm.If mixing in the bread maker: add the butter when the bread maker beeps about 20 minutes into the cycle, which indicates that any additions can be made (in our case we are adding butter).
• Add 1 cup of re-hydrated, but well-drained or paper towel dried fruits, 1 tbsp orange zest, and 3/4 cup white chocolate chips into the dough. Knead until fully incorporated.
• Rise and chill: Transfer the dough to the greased bowl and allow the dough to rise at room temperature (see Note 3) for 1 hour or until the dough is almost doubled in size.Tip: To aid in proofing or rising of the dough preheat the oven to 250F for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat and place the bowl with the dough in the oven. Ensure that the oven is not hotter than 100F or the extreme heat will kill the yeast and now allow the dough to rise.Then cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Only skip the refrigeration if you are really tight on time. The prolonged fermentation aids in flavor and texture of the Easter bread.
• Remove from the fridge and shape. Punch down the dough and shape it into a round ball by tucking edges of the dough all around under itself until the top looks nice and smooth. Place inside the large 6 or 7-inch round and tall Panettone mold. Or divide the dough between two 5-inch Panetone molds.For mini Easter breads, divide the dough between the 3 lined with parchment paper (see pix) 32 oz cans with both ends removed. Or divide between 9-12 small two inch round paper molds. The dough should fill the molds about halfway.
• Proof: Allow the dough to proof until it is doubled in size. To create a warm environment repeat the trick with preheating the oven to 250F for 2-3 minutes, then turn it off and place the molds with the dough in there. The oven shouldn't be hotter than 100F.Once doulbed in size, lightly brush the tops with whisked yolk.
• Place in a preheated to 350F oven and bake until the inside registers 190F degrees and the tops are golden in color. If the dough browns too fast, loosely tent the top with foil.Bake time: times are approximate as each oven is different For the 6-7 inch round molds - 55-65 minutes. For 5 inch molds - 40 minutesFor the 3.5-inch round molds - 35 minutes. The 2-inch round molds will take about 20 minutes. While the bread is baking, make the glaze (directions below) and cover it with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming.
• Remove the baked Easter Bread from the oven and allow to cool completely. Then, cover with glaze by spreading some of the powdered sugar glaze on top with a spoon or spatula, or dipping the smaller paska bread tops into the glaze. Sprinkle the sprinkles on top, if desired.
• Combine 1.5 cups powdered sugar, 1 egg and 1 tsp of lemon juice in a mixer and whip until the mixture is thick, but still flows in slow, lava-like motion, about 5-7 min. You can take a spoonful and allow it to drizzle down the inside of the bowl, if it flows down slow, leaving a nice drizzle, you can stop whipping. If not, just continue whipping until it's proper consistency.

PASKA EASTER BREAD RECIPE (KULICH)

Steps:

• In a large Mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups + 2 Tbsp warm milk, 6 eggs, 1 Tbsp yeast, 2 cups sugar, 2 sticks melted butter (just warm, not hot!), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 tsp vanilla. Whisk in 4 cups flour. Your batter will be thick like sour cream. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place or a warm oven (about 100˚F) for 2 hours.
• Add 5 more cups of flour; one cup at a time or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands (it will still feel sticky but wont' stick to your fingers). I find it's easiest to fold flour in with a silicone spatula. Dough should be soft. Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups raisins. Cover and let dough rise another 2 hours in a warm oven (100˚F).
• Divide dough evenly into the three paper baking molds; try not to mix it or stomp it down too much. Let dough rise uncovered in a warm 100˚F oven for an additional 2 hours or until the molds are almost full. Remove from the oven and preheat oven to 350˚F.
• Bake at 350˚F for 30-35 minutes in the middle of the oven until the top is golden brown. Let cool to room temp or just warm and then tear off the wrapper.
• Once the Breads are at room temperature and wrappers are off, get your frosting ready. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar with 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Add a little water if it's too thick or a little more powdered sugar if it's too runny. Pour the glaze over each cooled Easter bread. Traditionally, these are topped with colorful sprinkles before the glaze sets.

RUSSIAN EASTER BREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, 1/4 cup white sugar, and milk. Mix until the yeast and sugar have dissolved.
• Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended.
• Cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer , combine butter, 1/2 cup white sugar, and egg yolks.
• Add yeast-flour mixture, combining thoroughly.
• Add vanilla, cardamom, salt, and enough of the 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Stir in raisins, almonds, and orange rind.
• In a small bowl, beat 2 reserved egg whites until stiff.
• Fold them into the dough. Knead by machine or hand until a smooth and elastic dough forms, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Place in greased bowl, turning once to coat both sides.
• Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
• Coat a 2-pound coffee can or kulich pan with cooking spray.
• Punch down dough and knead a few times.
• Place it in the prepared pan, cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until dough reaches the top of the can.
• Heat oven to 400 F. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 350 F and bake another 35 to 40 minutes or until a cake tester or long toothpick or thin skewer comes out clean.
• Remove kulich from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Unmold from the can and cool on a wire rack.
• Gather the ingredients.
• While kulich is baking, prepare the glaze in a small bowl by combining the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice , almond extract, and enough warm water to make a smooth, runny glaze.
• Pour over the top of the kulich allowing it to run down the sides of the cake.