Aki's Kitchen - Recipes

Tsourekia
- Greek Easter Bread

Pastries - Breads

1 2 3

Traditional Greek Easter Bread.

Ingredients:

Tools & Equipment:

6 1/2 tsp dry granular yeast
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup warm water
8 eggs
2 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup melted butter (salted)
2 cups warm milk
25 - 30 gm. Mahlepi
4 gm. Mastic (1 tsp crushed)
1/2 tsp salt
12 cups enriched flour or all-purpose
2 cups extra flour
2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 cup untoasted slivered almonds, or 1/2 cup untoasted sesame seeds

mortar and pestle
mixing bowls
electric mixer
rubber scraper
medium nonstick pot
wooden ladle
small pot
2 cup measuring cup
4 - 5 jellyroll pans or cookie sheets
parchment paper
plastic film
soft bristle pastry brush
cooling racks

Before You Begin:
In a medium bowl, break open the eggs and then set them aside to come to room temperature.

Pulverize the mahlepi in a coffee grinder (or in a wooden mortar and pestle) and then combine it with the milk in a medium nonstick pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly using a wooden ladle; remove from heat and allow the mixture to steep. In the meantime, in a small pot, melt the butter and then set it aside.

Crush mastic in a marble or wooden mortar and pestle, or between a tablespoon and teaspoon; set it aside. DO NOT pulverize mastic in a coffee grinder, blender, or food processor. The mastic will turn into a very fine powder and will adhere onto the blade and plastic components of your equipment, which will be very difficult to clean.

How to Make the Dough:
In a 2 cup measuring cup, stir together: 1 tablespoon sugar, yeast and warm water; proof for 7 - 9 minutes: see "How to Proof Yeast".

In a large mixing bowl, combine the 2 1/2 cups sugar with the melted butter. Add in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Go back to the yeast and give it a good stir; don't worry about deflating the froth. Just make sure all of the granules have been dissolved; otherwise, those granules won't dissolve well and things won't work out well.

Strain the warm mahlepi mixture and discard the pulverized bits, or leave mixture as is, and then blend it into the egg mixture. Add in the yeast solution and then mix everything well. Combine the crushed mastic with a 1/2 cup of measured flour and then blend it into the mixture. Blend in the salt.

Add in the rest of the flour, in 1/4 cup increments to form a very firm dough. When mixing the flour into the dough becomes difficult with the mixer, transfer the dough onto a floured work surface and then continue mixing and kneading in the rest of the flour by hand. The easiest way to incorporate the flour into the dough is by sprinkling 1 tablespoon of flour, or more, onto your working surface every time the dough becomes sticky during kneading. It should take about 3 - 5 minutes for the dough to absorb the flour and to become sticky again. Mixing and kneading the last 2 - 3 cups of flour into the dough can take up to 25 minutes; this is to be expected. If the Mahlepi mixture wasn't strained, some of the pulverized seeds will fleck off during kneading; this is to be expected.

1st & 2nd Rising:
Set the dough in a greased metal bowl and then loosely cover dough with a greased plastic film; the film prevents the surface of the dough from drying out. Turn the oven on at 350'F, for 15 - 20 seconds to allow the interior to become slightly warm (90'F- 110'F.). Place the bowl into the oven and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours, or until double in volume. The oven light can also be left on to generate a little bit of heat. If the oven cools down, then repeat turning it on and off, for a few seconds, to maintain the warmth. Dough should feel warm to the touch.

When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down and knead it on a lightly floured work surface for 3 - 5 minutes (pictures 1 -7). It's very important to break/pop these little bubbles to release the gas build up from the yeast; otherwise, the finished product will taste yeasty and the texture will be coarse. Form the dough into a ball and then set it in a greased bowl. Allow the dough to rise for another 2 hours or so, in the same manner, for its second rising.

If by chance you have to stop at this point, and the dough has doubled in volume (after 2 hours), punch down the dough and let it rise for another 2 more hours or so. If the dough rises more than double its volume, then the texture, flavour and crust will be awful. Dough can rise, two, three, and even four times, without affecting its texture and flavour, provided that it hasn't been left to rise for more than double its volume at a time.