Today in my kitchen we are preparing our Easter Bread. What many of you call Paska we call Kulich. This is my
mom’s Russian Easter Bread Recipe that I quartered because the amount
she would make is quite daunting for me. We have cut it in half in years
past. Now what you need to know about my mom and recipes is that she
ends up tweaking them from year to year so this recipe is for her Kulich
from 2001. I have a 2009 and 2012 recipe, too. This one was easier to
quarter. My dear mom passed away from this earth in September of 2013 so I cherish her tweaked recipes. This always seems to be an all day process in my kitchen and while the dough is rising have some lunch or tea with your baking crew and when the bread is safely cooling go out to dinner and celebrate another year of your success in making Paska/Kulich. My baking crew this year will be my sister and adult kids. Here's some of last year's crew.
Ingredients:
2 pkgs rapid rise yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 teaspoon sugar
4 egg yolks
1 egg
1-1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup butter
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup half and half
1/2 ounce apricot brandy
1-1/2 teaspoons powdered vanilla
1 teaspoon salt
Zest of half a lemon
About 2-1/2 lbs of flour, sifted (about 7 cups)
Vegetable oil to coat the rising dough
6 to 7 one pound or two pound cans for baking. You can use loaf pans
or large muffin tins if you don’t have the cans to bake them in.
Add yeast to the lukewarm water and milk and sugar in a stainless
steel bowl.
Make sure the liquids are lukewarm.
Let this mixture
dissolve and sit.
Beat the egg yolks and egg together.
Cream the butter and sugar in the large bowl of a stand-up mixer.
Add the eggs to the butter and sugar mixture slowly mixing to combine and then beat to incorporate well.
Mix the half and half with the whipping cream and heat until lukewarm, not hot, and slowly incorporate into the creamed mixture.
Mix in the vanilla and brandy.
Add the yeast mixture and the salt and beat with a mixer.
Continue beating and add the lemon zest.
Continue beating and add the sifted flour about a cup at a time.
Once you cannot beat the dough any longer using the mixer, put the dough
on a floured surface and start incorporating the remaining flour by
kneading the dough.
The dough should be kneaded very well, approximately 10 minutes.
You should knead the dough until you can cut it with a knife and it is smooth without any holes.
Place the dough in a stainless steel bowl.
Take some oil and pour a
little on the dough and spread it all over the dough.
Make sure to turn
the dough so it is coated evenly.
Cover with plastic wrap right on the dough and a dish towel on top of that.
Place in a warm place away from drafts to rise, (My sister usually puts it into the oven that has been warmed slightly).
While the dough is rising (this can take an hour or longer) prepare the coffee cans (1 lb. and 2 lb. cans are
the best) Cut circles the size of the bottom of the cans out of wax
paper. You will need four circles per can. Make sure the cans are well
greased. Put the 4 circles in the bottom of the cans.
Use a empty and clean coffee can like the ones above. If there is a
label make sure to take it off. If the can has a lip at the top you’ll
need to use a can opener to cut the lip off the can. I hope these
pictures will make the process easier to understand.
Cut sheets of wax paper long enough to line the sides of the can and
tall enough to be 2″ above the rim of the can. Use shortening to seal the
ends of the paper.
You will take a portion of dough about 1/3 the size of the can. Knead it
and form it into a smooth ball that you can easily drop into the can.
Let the dough rise again inside the can until it is at least double in size.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until golden brown on top.(approximately 30 minutes or more depending on your oven.)
Let them cool slightly in the cans. Remove them from the cans and
then cool completely standing up. Some people cool them on their sides
turning them often to keep their shape. We found this time that they
cool just fine and keep their shape standing up so we didn’t bother with
that step!
We got seven loaves from this recipe, some taller and some shorter.
We like to document the better results we get and hope always to improve our techniques from year to year.
To go with this bread my mom always makes a wonderful sweet cheese
topping that is formed in a mold in different shapes, Seernaya paska. Our first cookbook has the recipe in it.
When the bread is ready to serve you can make a simple powdered sugar
thin frosting to top the bread with and then add sprinkles!
Are you preparing for Easter?
To see Lovella's famous Paska recipe that brought us together and inspired the Mennonite Girls Can Cook blog
click here.
