"Traditionally during the Easter service, the kulich, which has been put into a basket and decorated with colorful flowers, is blessed by the priest. Leftover kulich that isn't blessed is eaten with Paskha for dessert. Blessed kulich is eaten before breakfast each day. It is baked in tall, cylindrical tins (like coffee or fruit juice tins), and when cooled is decorated with white icing (which is slightly drizzled down the sides), colorful flowers, and XB (the traditional Easter greeting of Христос воскресе, "Christ is Risen") is decorated on the side. Kulich is only eaten during the 40 days after Paskha (Easter) until Pentecost."
---This information is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Kulich"
The recipe for this kulich is from Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. The recipe is actually a master formula for an all-purpose holiday bread. According to Peter Reinhart, Dresden stollen, Milan panettone, Russian kulich, and English hot cross buns can all be made from this same multipurpose holiday bread formula. The difference is in the way the bread is shaped, baked and decorated.
For this version, we'll use the master formula and add dried apricots, almonds, and golden raisins rather than the candied peel and saffron. Then, we'll drizzle the top of the baked bread with a powdered sugar glaze and decorate it with colored sprinkles.
Other bread baking resources:
- Easter Breads
- Festive Breads
- Bread Recipes
- Bread Cookbooks
- Bread Making
- Baking Supplies
- Bread Flour
- Bread Mixes
All-Purpose Holiday Bread
Makes: 1 very large loaf, several small loaves, or up to 24 hot cross buns
This formula utilizes a sponge. The sponge is similar to a poolish except it is made with buttermilk. Although you can use other types of milk, buttermilk gives the dough the best flavor.
Note: After 1 hour of fermentation, you can retard the dough for up to 24 hours.
Ingredients:
Sponge:
3/4 cup (3.5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons (0.25 ounce) instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk, at room temperature
Dough:
4 1/3 cups (19.5 ounces) unbleached bread flour
1/3 cup (2.25 ounces) sugar
1 teaspoon (0.25 ounce) salt
5 large eggs (8 ounces), cold
1/2 cup (4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
11.75 ounces sponge; use all
Additional Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup rum or orange juice concentrate
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sliced almonds or walnuts
1/4 cup multicolored candy sprinkles
Cooking spray
Directions:
To make the sponge, stir together the flour and yeast in a mixing bowl. Stir in the buttermilk and mix till smooth.
Cover the sponge with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, till very bubbly.
If using dried fruit, soak it in rum and/or vanilla in a bowl while the sponge is developing.
Golden raisins soaking in orange juice and vanilla extract.
Golden raisins and dried apricots soaking in the orange juice mixture.
To make the dough, combine all the other dough ingredients and the sponge in a mixing bowl or the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook.
Mix the dough on slow speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 5 minutes.
Add the fruit and nut mixture and mix for an additional 2 minutes, or until the dough is soft and tacky, and registers about 80°F on a probe thermometer. Add water if the dough is too stiff or flour if it is too sticky. To make by hand, knead the dough on a well-floured counter with floured hands for about 15 minutes, adding the fruit and nuts during the final 3 minutes.
Mist the dough with cooking spray, cover it with plastic wrap, and allow it to rise at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, till it increases in size by 1 1/2 times.
Forming the Kulich:
This formula makes one large kulich or a number of smaller ones. For each loaf, generously spray the inside o a clean coffee can or other can with cooking spray. To make a large kulich, you will need a 2-pound coffee can. You can use smaller cans, such as tuna fish cans to make a bunch of cute baby kulich's. Fill each can slightly more than halfway with a ball of dough. Let the dough rise till it comes just above the rim of the can.
The dough may take anywhere from 1 to 3 hours to rise enough, depending on the warmth of the room. I used a 2-pound coffee can. It was a little chilly in Atlanta so it took about 4 hours for the dough to rise.
Bake the loaf at 325°F till the top begins to brown, 20 to 40 minutes depending on the size. The bread will have crowned above the can and mushroomed slightly over the edge.
The exposed dough will bake much faster than the rest of the loaf, so cover the top with aluminum foil and continue to bake it for about 15 minutes longer, till the center reaches 185°F. Turn off the oven and allow it to bake another 5 minutes.
Allow the kulich to cool in the can for about 10 minutes. When it is no longer hot but still warm to the touch, carefully extract the loaf, taking care not to separate the crown from the base (tap the sides of the can if necessary). Cool on rack.
Decorate the crown with lemon or orange sugar glaze (recipe follows), and sprinkle golden raisins, chopped dried apricots, sliced almonds, and/or colorful candy sprinkles into the glaze as it drips down the side of the loaf. Use golden-colored fruit to symbolize Christ's resurrection.
Making the sugar glaze:
Whisk together 1 cup sifted confectioner's sugar and 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons hot water into a paste that is thick but still can be drizzled on the bread. You can also add a few drops of lemon, orange, vanilla, or almond extract. A thinner sugar glaze can be brushed on by adding a little corn syrup and a few drops of milk.
I didn't have any orange or lemon extract so I added almond extract to my glaze. Yummy!
Note: Some people like to drizzle the glaze from a fork in streaky little lines. Others prefer to brush it on with a pastry brush to coat the whole piece.
Well, you win some and you lose some. My loaf would not come out of the pan. Not sure why it didn't come out of the greased pan in one piece but it seems that using a coffee can is not as foolproof as other methods. I'll have to investigate further and let you know how to avoid the same fate. In the meantime, I have some yummy crumbs and broken pieces of bread that taste really good, but don't make such a pretty picture.
I found this photo of what the finished Kulich should look like. Enjoy!
Thanks for visiting The Bread Experience Bread-Baking Blog. We hope you'll join us next time. We'll make a bread that will actually come out of the pan.
Happy Baking!
--Cathy
Here are some additional bread-making resources:
- Easter Breads
- Festive Breads
- Bread Recipes
- Bread Cookbooks
- Bread Making
- Baking Supplies
- Bread Flour
- Bread Mixes
Feel free to leave a comment about this blog, or submit your own bread experience. We'd love to highlight your story on The Bread Experience site.
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