Greek Easter Bread

With Greek Easter one week away, not much free time between now and then, and the simple desire to bake something today, I am making Greek Easter Bread (τσουρέκι πασχαλινό, pronounced tsoo-REH-kee pahs-khah-lee-NO). It is a sweet bread often served with a traditional red egg tucked into the the top of the twist. I made the eggs last year and am skipping them this year. I just don't want to deal with 15 pounds of yellow onions. More precisely, the skins from 15 pounds of yellow onions. Let's just worry about the bread.

Luke warm milk and yeast are mixed in a small bowl. A few spoonfuls of flour are incorporated until a paste is formed. This is set aside to rise. The recipe doesn't say for how long. I just checked on it periodically. After half an hour or so, it had tripled in size. At least.

In the bowl for my stand-up mixer I added flour, salt and melted butter. Mahlab is boiled in water and then the strained liquid is added to the mixing bowl. Eggs, the yeast mixture and a few pieces of mastic that have been crushed together with a bit of sugar are added. As the dough hook worked its labor-saving magic, I added spoonfuls of flour until a good "maleable" dough came together. This is covered and allowed to rise for a couple hours.

After rising, the dough is punched down and shapes are created. I am going with simple braids. Ropes of just over a foot are formed. On a greased cookie sheet, three of these are then braided and the ends are tucked under. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar or sliced almonds and bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. When tapped on the bottom, they should sound hollow. Cool on racks.

For the record, I made a half-recipe. The full recipe makes 6 two-pound loaves. I made 2 three-pound loaves and sprinkled one with Premium Maui Gold natural cane sugar.

Bon appétit!