Recipe For Tsoureki Easter Bread

~ Tandy

Our Easter weekend was really wonderful, and I hope that yours was as well. I did quite a bit of laundry and only a little bit of recipe testing for the blog. I left the making of my Tsoureki Cypriot Easter Bread until Easter Monday. I trusted that the recipe from Paul Hollywood would work perfectly and it did! I was most grateful for that, as we left for overseas the Thursday after Easter and I would not have had time to make another loaf for this months’ Daring Bakers Challenge had it not worked. The original recipe calls for makhlepi and mastic and as the bread only needs a pinch of each, I decided to swap it out for some ground fennel instead. I loved the flavour this imparted into my Easter Bread that I am going to play around with spices for another loaf of bread in the future. It also calls for sultanas and I really don’t enjoy them so I used raisins which were surprisingly (for me) very tasty in the bread. As oranges are not in season here, I used satsumas instead but any orange citrus fruit will work in this recipe. I tried to boil my eggs the old fashioned way, and that was a total failure. In future I am only going to use my egg boiler for this task. I can highly recommend that you try making this Easter Bread on any occasion. Just leave the eggs off and you can braid it any way you want.

"Tsoureki Cypriot Easter Bread"
Tsoureki Cypriot Easter Bread
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Tsoureki Cypriot Easter Bread Recipe

All Rights Reserved: Adapted from 100 Great Breads page 84

Ingredients

for the bread

  • 15 g fresh yeast
  • 130 mls tepid water divided
  • 500 g bread flour plus extra for dusting
  • 60 g soft butter
  • 75 g caster sugar - I used fructose
  • 55 g raisins
  • 150 mls milk
  • Zest of 2 satsumas
  • Pinch of ground cinnamon
  • 2 pinches fennel seeds
  • 10 g fine salt

for the eggs

  • 3 eggs
  • 3 drops red food colouring concentrate

for baking

  • 1 egg beaten

Method

for the bread

  • Place the yeast into a cup and mix in 15mls of the water and set aside
  • Place the flour, butter, sugar, raisins, milk, zest and ground cinnamon into a large bowl
  • Place the fennel seeds and salt into a mortar and use the pestle to grind the fennel until fine
  • Add to the flour mixture and mix all the ingredients together
  • Add the yeast and slowly add as much of the water as you need to create a soft dough
  • Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until the dough is pliable
  • Put the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and leave to prove for an hour
  • Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal pieces
  • Roll each piece into strips and braid them together, making sure you have enough braids for the 3 eggs
  • Ensure that the edges are properly joined and tucked in
  • Place onto a lined baking tray, cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave to prove for an hour
  • Preheat the oven to 200° Celsius

for the eggs

  • Hard boil your eggs, using the method you know works for you
  • Place into a bowl of cold water with the food colouring – the longer you leave them in the water, the redder they will be

for baking

  • Brush the top of the bread with the egg wash
  • Place the eggs on top of the bread
  • Bake for 25 minutes and leave to cool on a wire rack

 

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Blog-checking lines:

The April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den . She challenged us to Spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.

What I blogged:

Dave and I are away in the UK and we will be back at work on the 8th of May. I will start replying to blog comments then. You can read our daily diary of our trip by clicking here.

Tandy

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Published by Tandy

I am passionate about using regional, seasonable and sustainable produce when I cook. I live in Gordons Bay with my husband and dogs. We visit new places locally and overseas as often as we can to experience the food of the area. Follow along on our adventures!

26 thoughts on “Recipe For Tsoureki Easter Bread”

  1. my word, that looks really creative. Never seen this before. Not sure I’m brave enough to give it a go, this could be one for baker-hubby!

    Reply

  11. It looks really unusual with the hard boiled eggs. I did try baking with mastic once and it is an interesting, but probably acquired flavour but I’m sure I would prefer the fennel version you made

    Reply

  13. I have never had this bread Tandy…sounds delicious, and look so pretty…perfect Easter bread.
    Hope you are having a wonderful week 😀

    Reply

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