Kulichi are considered a very tasty sweet pastry, and seasonal. An interesting fact about kulichi is that their preparation was a real sacrament. It
is believed that before Easter you need to put the house in perfect order. The whole family must necessarily wash, and on Clean Thursday go to church to consecrate salt, water and kulichi. Kulichi were baked just on Clean Thursday or on Saturday.
Special molds made of tin or wood were used for baking. These molds were in every family and were inherited from mother to daughter.
Let’s bake soft and fragrant kulichi on our own.
Ingredients:
- warm milk – 200 ml;
- sugar – 110 g;
- yeast – 2 tbsp;
- eggs – 3 pcs;
- egg white – pcs;
- butter – 150 g;
- salt – a pinch;
- vanillin – pinch;
- dried orange zest – 1 tsp;
- fresh orange zest can be grated.
- flour – 600 g;
- candied fruit – 100 g;
- egg yolk – pcs.
Preparation of kulichi:
In a bowl with warm milk pour 10 grams of sugar and yeast, stir and leave for 5 minutes under a food film.
Break three eggs in a separate container, add the protein and sugar, beat
for a
few minutes to a fluffy white mass. Beat
the resulting opara with a whisk and add to it beaten eggs with sugar, stir. Pour the mixture into a larger container.
Melt the butter and pour it into the mixture of opara and beaten eggs, add salt, vanilla and orange zest and stir. Sift the flour into the mixture in batches and knead into a thick dough.
Keep the dough warm under cling film until it has doubled in size. Knead the dough, add the candied fruit and mix.
Leave the dough under the food foil for another 20 minutes, then knead it again. Divide the dough into two equal portions and place each one in a mold.
Fill the mold with the dough by about ½.
Leave the dough in the molds under cellophane and a towel for 20 minutes.
Then smear the tops of the kulichs with a mixture of egg yolk and milk.
Bake the kulichs at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
After baking you can check the readiness with a wooden skewer. It should come out of the kulich dry.
