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Greek Easter Bread 1
Greek Easter Bread (tsoureki) which is baked and twisted into sweet bread-loaves are traditionally distributed on Easter Sunday.
Ingredients
3 ½ lb (one and a half kilos) flour
14 oz. (400g) sugar
12 oz. (320g) butter
8 oz. (225g) milk
3 ½ oz (100g) yeast
8 eggs
1 tsp. mastic, crushed
½ tsp. of mahlepi (an oriental seed-type herb)
Almonds, blanched and coarsely crushed
Method
Dissolve the yeast in a little warm milk and add 3-4 tbsps. of flour then leave to rise in a warm place.
Put the rest of the flour into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
When the yeast mixture has risen considerably put it into the well in the flour.
Warm the remaining milk in a saucepan with the eggs, half the mastic, the mahlepi, 9 oz. (250g) of the butter and combine well.
Add half of this mixture to the bowl with the flour and the yeast and knead well.
Melt the rest of the butter and keep it to one side.
Add the rest of the egg, sugar, malhepi, mastic and butter mixture to the flour and yeast mixture.
Continue kneading, greasing your hands with the already melted butter.
Knead the dough until it’s elastic in consistency, not too stiff or too runny, adding a little more flour if needed.
Cover the dough with a clean cloth and leave in a warm place to rise.
When you see it has risen considerably separate the dough into three thick strips.
Plait the strips, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle them with almonds and the remaining mastic.
Bake in a moderate oven for about 45 minutes.
Optionally, you could also decorate the plait with a red hard boiled egg at one end.
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