Original Easter kulich
Description
Delicious baked goods for the whole family. When preparing Easter bread (kulich), there is one essential requirement, and it has nothing to do with ingredients. Remember: nothing depends on your mood as much as dough does—especially kulich dough. Start cooking only when you're in a positive mood, and put your soul into what you're doing. Then, even if the ingredients aren't of the highest quality, everything will turn out just right. The baking is ready. Serve at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
First, beat the eggs until foamy. In another bowl, heat the milk to 60 degrees or until steam appears. Pour a small amount of the milk into the eggs.
- 2
Step 2
Mix the eggs with warm milk, stirring well. Make sure the temperature does not exceed 60 degrees, otherwise the eggs will curdle. Stir continuously for about a minute, then remove from heat. Add the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla to the mixture. Then add the yeast and part of the flour. The mixture should resemble a liquid dough. This is the starter.
- 3
Step 3
Now place the sponge in a warm spot for two to three hours, wrapping it well. Wait for it to rise. Then punch down the sponge and wait for it to rise once again.
- 4
Step 4
Now it's time to knead the dough. To do this, add the sifted flour to the sponge and mix thoroughly. Kneading this dough is quite labor-intensive, but the result depends directly on your efforts. When the dough starts to come away from your hands slightly, set it aside to rise. While it's resting, you should knead it down several times. When kneading it for the last time, add raisins, prunes, or dried apricots—whatever you prefer.
- 5
Step 5
That's it, the dough has risen. Take molds. You can use tin cans or small pots. Grease them with oil and dust with flour. Only after that place the dough into them. Fill the molds halfway so the dough doesn't overflow. Then wait again for the dough to rise, this time in the molds. After it has risen, put them in a preheated oven (at 180 degrees). To prevent burning, I usually place a pan of water on the bottom rack. I like to keep the dough moist. Bake for about 30-40 minutes.
- 6
Step 6
While the loaves are baking, let's prepare the glaze. Beat the egg white with sugar, approximately like for meringue. Alternatively, you can make a separate glaze. Melt sugar with water to make a syrup. Pour this syrup over our loaves. After that, the glaze will spread beautifully. Sprinkle with confectioner's sprinkles. You can use coconut ones—they're more aromatic. Enjoy!