Paska Easter Bread Recipe Kulich

Steps:

• Melt butter.
• add sour cream and eggs.
• Stir constantly over a low heat until it looks like loosley scrambled eggs.
• Remove and cool.
• In a large size mixing bowl, mix egg mixture with sugar, vanilla and farmer's cheese. Beat well on a low speed.
• Drape a cheese cloth over a large cheese mold or clay flower pot with hole on the bottom.
• Put weights on top to squeeze out excess water.
• Refrigerate 24 hours.
• Unmold.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, 1/4 cup of sugar and milk, mixing until yeast and sugar have dissolved. Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
• In a bowl, combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolks. Add the yeast-flour mixture from step 1, stirring well. Add vanilla, cardamom, salt and enough of the 3-3 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Stir in raisind, almonds and orange rind.
• In a small bowl, beat 2 egg whites untill stiff. Fold them into th dough made in step 2. Knead until asmooth and elastic dough forms. Place in a greased bowl, cover with greased plastic wrap and let to rise until doubled in size.
• Coat a kulich pan with cooking spray. Punch down the dough and knead for a few times. Place it in the prepared pan, cover with greased plastic wrap and leave to rise until the dough reaches the top of the pan.
• Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 35 to 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
• While Kulich is baking, prepare glaze by combining in a small bowl the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice, almond extract and enough water to make a smooth, runny glaze.
• Remove Kulich from oven and let to cool for 10 minutes. Unmold from pan and cool on a wire rack. While still slightly warm, drizzle glaze over the top. To serve, cut of the crown and slice base into rounds. T keep any leftovers moist, replace the crown.

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Heat milk, sugar, butter, saffron, and salt in a 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
• Meanwhile, stir together yeast, warm water, and pinch of sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Put flour in a large bowl and make a large well in center. Lightly beat 3 eggs and add to well along with milk and yeast mixtures. Carefully stir together with a wooden spoon, gradually incorporating flour, until a soft dough forms. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead, dusting with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Put dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, turning to coat with oil, and let rise, covered with a clean kitchen towel, in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 3 hours.
• Punch down dough and let rise again, covered with towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Form loaves:
• Generously butter soufflé dishes. Punch down dough and divide in half. Loosely wrap 1 piece in plastic wrap and set aside. Cut away one third of remaining piece of dough and reserve, then roll remaining two thirds into a large ball and transfer to a soufflé dish.
• Roll reserved piece of dough into an 18-inch-long rope on work surface with palms of your hands. Cut rope into 3 equal pieces and lay pieces vertically side by side on work surface, about 1/4 inch apart. Gather 3 ends farthest from you and press them together, then braid strands, pressing together other ends to secure braid. Lay braid over top of dough in soufflé dish (trim braid if using coffee cans). Form another loaf with remaining dough in same manner.
• Cover loaves with clean kitchen towel and let rise in draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours (loaves will rise about 1 inch above rims of dishes).
• Bake loaves:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Lightly beat remaining egg with a large pinch of salt, then brush egg over top of each loaf. Bake loaves until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped on bottom, about 1 hour. Turn loaves out onto a rack, then turn right side up and cool completely.

Steps:

• Place golden raisins into a bowl, drizzle with vodka, and allow raisins to soften overnight.
• Mix 1 teaspoon sugar into lukewarm water in a bowl until sugar dissolves. Stir yeast into the water and let stand until the yeast mixture is frothy, about 10 minutes.
• Heat milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until very warm but not simmering. Stir in saffron threads and cardamom, remove from heat, and let the milk mixture stand until lukewarm.
• Transfer yeast mixture into a large mixing bowl. Stir milk mixture, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 cup flour into the yeast mixture, beating until the batter is smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
• Mix melted butter, 1/2 cup sugar, orange blossom honey, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and salt together in a bowl. Beat butter mixture into the batter, then beat in eggs and egg yolk.
• Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour into the dough. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup flour onto a work surface and knead dough until it holds together, about 5 minutes; knead soaked golden raisins and 1/2 cup almonds into the dough until well distributed.
• Form dough into a ball and place into an oiled bowl; turn dough around in the bowl several times to coat outside of dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Punch down dough, knead a few times, and divide dough into 4 pieces. Coat inside of clean 14-ounce cans with butter. Line cans with parchment paper. Roll each piece of dough into a ball, place into a can, and press dough lightly against the inside bottom of can.
• Cover cans with a cloth and allow dough to rise to the top of the cans, about 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place a baking sheet into the oven; place the cans of dough upright into oven on baking sheet. Bake until kulich are risen and lightly browned, 45 to 50 minutes.
• Let kulich cool in the cans for about 15 minutes before gently removing from cans to finish cooling on racks.
• Beat egg white in a bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until frothy; beat in confectioners' sugar until the mixture holds stiff peaks. Beat lemon juice into frosting.
• Frost the tops of the kulich and sprinkle tops with 2 tablespoons toasted sliced almonds. Refrigerate leftovers.