Einkorn Paska Easter Bread Kulich Recipes

PASKA EASTER BREAD RECIPE (KULICH)

Steps:

• Pour enough rum or warm water over the dried fruits to keep them submerged and allow them to rehydrate for 1 hour, or up to 1 week in advance. Cover the bowl and refrigerate if doing this more than 1 hour in advance. Then, drain the dried fruits and pat with paper towels to remove all moisture from the outside. Set aside or refrigerate.
• Prep: Grease a large bowl with oil or nonstick spray, set aside.Measure and prep all of the ingredients. Weigh the ingredients for best results.Check/proof your yeast if you're unsure if the yeast is still active, or if you're using active dry yeast instead of instant dried yeast.
• Combine:To a bowl of a stand mixer or a bread maker add the ingredients in the following order: 4 eggs, 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, 2 tbsp + 1 tsp of milk or water, 2 1/2 cups flour, 2 1/4 tsp of yeast and give a quick stir with a spoon until it's chunky. Then fit the mixer with a dough hook and knead on low speed until it barely comes together.
• Knead: Then knead on medium-low speed for about 20 minutes (on a KitchenAid stand mixer - speed 3). If using the bread machine it should be turned on to the 1.5 hour dough cycle for a 2 lb white bread loaf. The dough will be thick at this point, this is OK.Check for gluten development (windowpane test). To do this take a walnut-sized piece of dough, flatten it out, then slowly stretch it until you can make it very thin and almost translucent. If the dough tears instead of getting thin and transparent continue kneading until it gets to this stage. It might take more or less time depending on many factors. Go by the windowpane test and not the time.
• Add butter and salt: Next, add butter in halves, in small cubes and continue kneading until the butter is fully incorporated about 15-20 minutes. You might have to break the dough into small chunks to make the incorporation with the butter easier. DO NOT ADD ANY MORE FLOUR - it's ok if the dough is on the runny side. As continue kneading it will hold shape better, but still should not be firm.If mixing in the bread maker: add the butter when the bread maker beeps about 20 minutes into the cycle, which indicates that any additions can be made (in our case we are adding butter).
• Add 1 cup of re-hydrated, but well-drained or paper towel dried fruits, 1 tbsp orange zest, and 3/4 cup white chocolate chips into the dough. Knead until fully incorporated.
• Rise and chill: Transfer the dough to the greased bowl and allow the dough to rise at room temperature (see Note 3) for 1 hour or until the dough is almost doubled in size.Tip: To aid in proofing or rising of the dough preheat the oven to 250F for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat and place the bowl with the dough in the oven. Ensure that the oven is not hotter than 100F or the extreme heat will kill the yeast and now allow the dough to rise.Then cover and chill for at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Only skip the refrigeration if you are really tight on time. The prolonged fermentation aids in flavor and texture of the Easter bread.
• Remove from the fridge and shape. Punch down the dough and shape it into a round ball by tucking edges of the dough all around under itself until the top looks nice and smooth. Place inside the large 6 or 7-inch round and tall Panettone mold. Or divide the dough between two 5-inch Panetone molds.For mini Easter breads, divide the dough between the 3 lined with parchment paper (see pix) 32 oz cans with both ends removed. Or divide between 9-12 small two inch round paper molds. The dough should fill the molds about halfway.
• Proof: Allow the dough to proof until it is doubled in size. To create a warm environment repeat the trick with preheating the oven to 250F for 2-3 minutes, then turn it off and place the molds with the dough in there. The oven shouldn't be hotter than 100F.Once doulbed in size, lightly brush the tops with whisked yolk.
• Place in a preheated to 350F oven and bake until the inside registers 190F degrees and the tops are golden in color. If the dough browns too fast, loosely tent the top with foil.Bake time: times are approximate as each oven is different For the 6-7 inch round molds - 55-65 minutes. For 5 inch molds - 40 minutesFor the 3.5-inch round molds - 35 minutes. The 2-inch round molds will take about 20 minutes. While the bread is baking, make the glaze (directions below) and cover it with plastic wrap to prevent a film from forming.
• Remove the baked Easter Bread from the oven and allow to cool completely. Then, cover with glaze by spreading some of the powdered sugar glaze on top with a spoon or spatula, or dipping the smaller paska bread tops into the glaze. Sprinkle the sprinkles on top, if desired.
• Combine 1.5 cups powdered sugar, 1 egg and 1 tsp of lemon juice in a mixer and whip until the mixture is thick, but still flows in slow, lava-like motion, about 5-7 min. You can take a spoonful and allow it to drizzle down the inside of the bowl, if it flows down slow, leaving a nice drizzle, you can stop whipping. If not, just continue whipping until it's proper consistency.

PASKA EASTER BREAD RECIPE (KULICH)

Steps:

• In a large Mixing bowl, whisk together 2 cups + 2 Tbsp warm milk, 6 eggs, 1 Tbsp yeast, 2 cups sugar, 2 sticks melted butter (just warm, not hot!), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 tsp vanilla. Whisk in 4 cups flour. Your batter will be thick like sour cream. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place or a warm oven (about 100˚F) for 2 hours.
• Add 5 more cups of flour; one cup at a time or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands (it will still feel sticky but wont' stick to your fingers). I find it's easiest to fold flour in with a silicone spatula. Dough should be soft. Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 cups raisins. Cover and let dough rise another 2 hours in a warm oven (100˚F).
• Divide dough evenly into the three paper baking molds; try not to mix it or stomp it down too much. Let dough rise uncovered in a warm 100˚F oven for an additional 2 hours or until the molds are almost full. Remove from the oven and preheat oven to 350˚F.
• Bake at 350˚F for 30-35 minutes in the middle of the oven until the top is golden brown. Let cool to room temp or just warm and then tear off the wrapper.
• Once the Breads are at room temperature and wrappers are off, get your frosting ready. In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar with 3 Tbsp lemon juice. Add a little water if it's too thick or a little more powdered sugar if it's too runny. Pour the glaze over each cooled Easter bread. Traditionally, these are topped with colorful sprinkles before the glaze sets.