Hello people!
Happy Easter Monday!
A beloved friend's mother dyed these lovely eggs!
I'd like to share with you an amazing recipe - the best thing I've ever made by far. I absolutely love tsoureki and always look forward to trying it again and again! You simply can't get enough. I made this over my Easter holidays in Greece and was so excited with the result. It doesn't get better than this and to be honest, mine was better than the store-bought ones. It's soft, fluffy, so satisfying to tear, extremely aromatic and oh-so-delizious! The kitchen flooded with the heavenly aromas of spices: mahleb, mastic teardrops and lemon zest.
It's the ultimate sweet bread - it's indescribably hard to describe its fluffiness to you! You must try it and see for yourself - for science, that is. Mine is gone now... I was a proud tsourekomother who lost her sweet child - like a friend said... We tsouwrecked it.
For 2 *large* tsourekia, you will need:
1 day from your life
lots of patience
1 kg bread flour/tsoureki flour
50 gr. fresh yeast or 2 sachets dried yeast (about 15 gr.)
300 gr. sugar
450 gr. milk
4 eggs
125 gr. butter
1 tsp ground mastic
7 gr. ground mahleb
2 tsp lemon zest
sliced almonds (optional)
egg white
Proud tsourekomother
I got my fresh yeast from the local bakery. If you can't find any, you can get dried yeast from the supermarket - don't worry if you use less, as it will only take a little longer to rise. Fresh yeast is as fun as dried yeast - it looks like clay and smells as earthy too.
Fresh yeast
Tsoureki flour
Mastic teardrops (μαστίχα) are dried resin drops from the mastic tree (Pistacia lentiscus) cultivated for its aromatic resin, mainly on the Greek island of Chios. I didn't have a pestle and a mortar to grind the teardrops. So, I wrapped it in a towel, went outside, grabbed a stone and started bashing it like a savage. It worked perfectly. Highly recommended.
Ground mastiha
Mahleb or mahlab is an aromatic spice made from wild cherry seeds. You can buy it either ground or whole and grind it at home for extra freshness. In Greece, you can find mahleb in the supermarkets in the spices/baking section. In the UK, you can find mahleb in delis or order it online. It smells ab*seed*lutely amazing.
Ground mahleb
First, warm the milk just enough until you can dip your finger in it and not feel it - neither cold nor hot. Too cold and the yeast won't proof. Too hot and it will destroy the yeast. Take half of the milk, crumble the yeast and add it. Slowly add about 100 gr. of flour or until you get a thick mixture and stir well. Cover and allow 30 minutes to 1 hour to proof. Leave in a warm place - I put it in the oven as there is a proofing option or you can cover it with a few blankets and tuck it in and read it a story.
Post-proofing, you need to check for two things: volume and bubbles. It should be about double in volume and bubbles on the surface mean that the yeast
has proofed well.
Lots and lots of bubbles!
Melt the butter and add the sugar with the rest of the milk, the eggs and the lemon zest. Stir well and add the yeast mixture. To add the flour, you will need a dough hook, as the dough will be pretty sticky and cannot be mixed with your hands. This part was a bit tiring and took a little longer than usual. Transfer to a large bowl and cover to proof.
First proofing
I covered the dough with cling film and towels and tucked it in yet again. Muster all your patience and wait for about 3 hours or until it reaches the edge of your bowl. A trick to see whether it has proofed well is to make a hole with your finger and check if the hole remains after you remove your hand. Lightly flour a surface and take the dough out of the bowl.
Cut into 6 equal parts in order to braid two large tsourekia. Lay three long strands side by side, pinching together at one end, and braid. Repeat with the other three strands. Other recipes require that you use more braids, but I thought I'd make the classic 3-braid type.
Second proofing
Use some baking sheet on the baking tin if you like or some butter to grease the surface. Carefully place the braided tsourekia on the buttered tin. Now they need to proof once more - I let them proof for another 2 hours in room temperature and they doubled in size. At this point, you need to stop and admire their beauty. Be proud of yourself for making it this far!
Baking
Turn on the oven to 200°C and allow to preheat for a few minutes. Lightly beat some egg white and brush the surface to create a light crust when baked. Place the tin on the lower rack of the oven. The tsourekia will take a brown colour quickly, so make sure you stay close and observe. We don't want to ruin a whole day's labour! After about 10 minutes I covered them with some baking sheet (or aluminium foil if you don't have any baking sheet) to keep their nice brown colour and baked for another 5-7 minutes. Overall, you should need about 15 minutes. Allow to cool before moving them - yet again some more patience! Then, you are free to taste the deliziousness. Good luck!
Allow to cool once out of the oven!
*Excitement!*
