Saturday 28 March 2015

Grandma K's Easter Bread


This bread is a must for Easter. I grew up eating this bread. My Grandmother called it gruntzkuga (not sure about the spelling) in low German, which means raisin bread. We often had it at Christmas too. The dough is a basic sweet egg yeast dough. Similar to brioche, challa, or paska. It is great for cinnamon buns also. Our Easter bread never had a sweet glaze over it, but you could add one.


Not fancy ingredients but the end product is so much more than the sum of it's parts. 


Start by proofing the yeast. Mix 1 tablespoon of yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 cup of water



Take the temperature of the water. Yeast is fussy about temperature. the water must be between 105-120 degrees Fahrenheit.



Let the yeast sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes. The yeast will multiply and a foam should rise to sit on top of the water



While the yeast is sitting, combine the eggs, oil, sugar salt 1 cup water vanilla and 4 cups flour into the bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer. Add the yeast after it has sat for the allotted time.


Mix on low speed, adding flour, 1/4 cup at a time until a stiff dough is formed. Aim for a slightly sticky dough. I find that one mistake that novice bakers tend to do is to add too much flour when making yeast dough. Err on the side of less flour than more. The amount of flour can vary depending on the humidity in the air. 4-5 cups of flour is just a ballpark figure. The dough will look lumpy at first. Mix the dough on low speed for 10 minutes


After 10 minutes of mixing the dough will be smooth an elastic.  Add the raisins and mix for another minute or two.

Put the dough into a large, well greased bowl. Then let it rest. I like to cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and put it in the oven with the oven light on. The oven provides the perfect, draft-free environment for the dough to rise. Do not turn the oven on. Let the dough sit for about one hour.

After one hour, pouch the dough down. Use your hands and deflate it.



Turn the dough over, cover and let it rise for another hour.  This double rise technique adds great flavour and texture to the dough.


The dough is nice and puffy

Cut three pieces of dough about the size of your fist.


Form the three lumps of dough into three 12-18 inch long ropes


Pinch the ropes together at one end.



Braid the three ropes together like you would hair. See the You Tube video for a visual tutorial.



When the ropes are all braided, pitch the end together


Put the braid into a well oiled 8 inch pie plate.
Easter is an important time in Christian religions. The three ropes represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and the circle represents the circle of life.


I also like to leave the braid straight. Cover the dough with a clean tea towel and let it sit at room temperature for one hour.



When the dough has doubled in volume and is nice and puffy, bake it in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes


Remove the hot loaves from the pans to a cooling rack. While they are still hot, brush them with a bit of butter.

Aren't they beautiful. 
Let the loaves come to room temperature, cover them with plastic wrap and freeze them. Thaw them at room temperature in the plastic wrap when you are ready to eat them. 

5 Tips For Working Yeast and Yeast Dough

1. Keep the yeast in the freezer. Yeast is a live organism but will become dormant in the freezer. When left at room temperature it will loose it's potency over time. Look for the expiry date when you buy it

2. Purchase a thermometer and make sure that the water that you proof your yeast in is the correct temperature. Yeast is very particular about temperature. To cold and it will not grow properly. Too hot and the yeast will die.

3. Don't add all of the flour at once. Add about 3/4 of the total flour and then add more flour a little at a time. Err on the side of too little flour rather than too much flour. The dough will initially seem too wet and lumpy but as the dough is mixed and the gluten is developed it will become smooth and elastic.

4. Let the dough rise in the refrigerator if you need more time between rises. The cooler temperature slows the division of the yeast so that the dough rises slower. Yeast doughs are very forgiving. The rising times are approximate. 1-2 hours is perfect at room temperature, 3-4 hours in the fridge.

5 Punch the dough down and let it rise two times. The second rise is not absolutely necessary but it makes the flavour and texture of the bread nicer


Grandma K's Easter Bread

This recipe will make three or four loaves, depending on the size of your loaves

1 tablespoon traditional yeast
1 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup water
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla(optional)
4-5 cups flour
1/2 cup raisins (golden or dark or a mixture of both)

Butter for glazing

Proof the yeast. Combine yeast,  1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 cup of water. The water must be about 115 degrees Fahrenheit. Use a thermometer to make sure that the water is the right temperature. Mix well and let it sit at room temperature for 10-15  minutes. There should be a layer of foam on top of the water after 10-15 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of water, eggs, oil, sugar, salt, vanilla and 4 cups of  flour. Use a heavy duty dough hook and electric mixer or combine by hand. Add enough remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, to make a stiff dough. The dough should still be a bit moist. Follow the pictures posted above to see what the dough should look like. Mix with dough hook, on low speed for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes the dough will be smoother and elastic and be slightly less moist than before mixing. Add the raisins and combine well. Turn dough into a large greased bowl. Cover with a clean, dry tea towel and let the dough rest in a warm area for about one hour. I like to use my oven. Just put the bowl into the cold oven and turn the oven light on. the heat generated from the oven light is perfect for providing the dough with the perfect temperature. Do not turn oven on!

Next step is to punch the dough down after the dough has risen for about one hour. Using your hands, deflate all of the air that has accumulated in the dough. Cover and let rise again for another hour. The double rise is great for developing awesome flavour in your dough.

After the second rise you are ready to form your loaves. Refer to the photos above for a detailed visual display on how I form the dough. Cut three pieces of dough, about the size of your fist. Form the dough into three, 12-18 inch long ropes. Attach the three ropes at one end and braid the three ropes together. Grease an eight inch pie plate and place the braided dough into the pie plate making it into a circle. Cover and let rise for one hour or until doubled in volume. Alternately, leave the dough in a strait, loaf shape.

Bake the loaves in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and turn dough into a cooling rack. Brush the hot loaf with a bit of butter.


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