Greaster Feaster

Months ago my friend Soph told me she wanted to learn how to make Tsourekia before Greek Easter. Being the uneducated Greek cook that I am, I offered to help/learn with her. For all of you that don't know what Tsourekia is, it is basically Greek sweet bread made at Easter time. It feels like an odd time of the year to have Greek Easter (Sunday the 5th of May), but every year the date changes so it's not always this late. 

So on the Sunday before Easter we took off. My Yiayia warned me it would take at least half a day - and she was right. It didn't help that I had scribbled down Yiayia's recipe over the phone - with minimal instructions and measurements. We really just guessed as we went! But here it goes... 

Tsourekia

Approx 80g fresh yeast

1 ½ cups milk

2 ½ cups unsalted butter

8 cups plain flour

1 packet of vanilla sugar (or a couple of teaspoons) 

6 eggs (medium size and at room temperature)

1 ½ cups sugar

1 10g packet of Mahlepi (Greek spice)

A teaspoon of Mastihi (other Greek spice- can be substituted for orange rind)

1. Place the yeast in a small bowl of warm water with a teaspoon of sugar and stir until it dissolves. It is important to make sure the water is just warm. Not hot or else you can burn the yeast. Cover the bowl in a plastic bag and leave the yeast to rise (by rise I mean kind of froth up) for 15 minutes or so next to somewhere warm (we put it next to a heater). Towards the end of the 15 minutes we added maybe a couple of tablespoons of flour to help it rise for another 5 minutes.

2. Pour 7 cups of flour in a bowl (only 7 just in case 8 is too much) and 1 packet of the Mahlepi

   

3. In a mixer, place 6 eggs with 1 ½ cups sugar and stir until its mixed and frothy. Yiayia's tip was to do the egg yolks with sugar separately to the egg whites. Next time...

  

4. Warm the milk in a small bowl and add in the orange rind and vanilla sugar. 

5. Melt the butter.

6. Stir the milk into the egg mixture.

    

     

6. Pour the yeast into the flour and mix well. Then fold in the milk/egg mixture. Finally, fold in the butter and make sure it is last! Don't know why, I just listen to whatever Yiayia tells me to do. 

7. Mix the dough until it looks roughly like below. It is quite sticky and soft. Cover it with a towel and let it rise for an hour in a warm place. 

8. Once the dough has risen to double-tripe it's size, lightly knead it. 

9. Roll 3 portions into thick long rolls. 

10. Plait these rolls like you would on your hair and then place them on a cooking tray, in a warm place, to rise for another 15 minutes. 

11. After they have risen again, lightly brush on some egg yolk mixed with a little cream or milk. This will give it a shiny look when it is cooked. We used both egg yolk and egg white so it was shiny, but not as shiny as it could have been. 

Also sprinkle some sliced almonds on top or alternatively, sesame seeds. 

12. Cook at around 180 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or whenever they look brown on top and ready to eat. 

13. ENJOY. They are amazing when they are fresh out of the oven. You can even freeze them and eat them later. Best served with butter, cream or even sour cream. YUM