Tsoureki...

Wow. Baking a loaf of bread from scratch was never on my "things I wanted to accomplish before I die" list, but I realize now it should have been. Crazy as it may sound, I am really quite proud of what you see below. Throughout the process I felt a kindred connection to all my Greek ancestors that have baked this same bread at this special time of year for generations.

After a rough start with burned milk, inactive yeast, Greek conversions I've still yet to understand (1 kg of flour is 2.2 lbs, but how many cups is that you ask? TONS... parts of original recipes are included with what I actually used below), there was kneading, rising, punching, more kneading, twisting, another rising, basting, and 9 hours later...my first batch of Tsoureki was finished at midnight and set aside to cool. The house filled with the enticing aroma of fresh baked bread. You may notice I also actually managed to hard boil and dye a dozen eggs red as well. Only one needed per loaf, the others will be used in a traditional Greek egg cracking game.

Before second rising...
 

In the oven, nearly finished...
 

All done...looks right...small sample taste test was great!
 

Recipe: There are tons and all a little different so I took the general idea and kind of made my own because I wanted to include a little cinnamon I saw in one recipe but not in the others... this recipe makes two loaves.

Ingredients: (What I used) -
10-11 cups of flour (recipe called for 1kg????)
2 cups of milk (recipe called for 1 1/2 teacups...what the heck is a teacup???)
2 pkg of active dry yeast (this was actually universal)...dissolved in 1/2 cup luke warm water, which actually means watch closely and monitor with a thermometer because the water has to be 95-120 degrees F or all fails...and it turns out 110 is best.
1 3/4 cup sugar (recipe called for another teacup measurement)
1 stick of melted butter (= 1/4 cup)
1 tsp salt
5 eggs well beaten
2 tsp Cinnamon (optional)
1 zest of orange, grated (I put very little, but did include some)

You also need a final well beaten egg and 2-3 tbs milk for baste. Well, that's what I used anyway. You can use egg and water too. Again, you can actually change a lot with this recipe...but this is the one that seems to have worked for me.

Directions: Uh...I used about 10 resources just figuring out how to get started with yeast, and boiling milk, and what to add when so I didn't screw it all up to begin with...so here's what I ended up with...

1) In small sauce pan, bring milk to boil. Stirring fairly frequently helps keep it from burning. (While that is warming...slowly)
2) I started the yeast dissolving process... (1/2 cup warm water, I put over stove burner on low heat and monitored it ever so often to be sure it didn't get too hot...sprinkle the two packets of yeast on top and wait 3-5 minutes. It starts looking thicker and gross...then put clean fingers into water and move a little and you will see all the top stuff dissolve properly and the consistency was a dirty water.)
3) When milk is boiling, pour it into large mixing bowl and add the sugar, butter, salt. Let cool to luke warm.
4) Add yeast water to lukewarm milk mixture.
5) Beat 4 eggs and add to the milk mixture.
6) (Add cinnamon, spices or whatnot if you want them, to the flour here...I added later because none of the recipes told me when to add it.) Then Gradually stir in the flour with a wooden spoon until the batter becomes too thick to stir.
7) Coat hands with flour and work in rest of flour by hands until a soft, elastic dough forms. (Another helpful recipe noted the dough should be smooth and no longer sticking to your hands...about 12 minutes).
8) Place dough in oiled bowl, cover with (wax paper and) a cloth, and set aside in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk (2-3 hours).


If you are trying this and reading on...CONGRATULATIONS on the yeast being active adn your dough doubling...you've hit a big milestone and have a huge chance of this actually working out...grab some wine and carry on.

9) Punch down the dough. And knead again. (Stick fist in center and fold sides in over hole. Knead until all air is out and bread is somewhat flat again.
10) Divide the dough into six equal sized balls (about the size of oranges).
11) Roll each ball into strips 12-15 inches long, and about 2 inches in diameter.
12) Lay three strips side by side, pinching together at one end and then braid the strands. Pinch together at other end to hold the loaf intact.
13) At this point you can press the red-dyed egg between the strips of the braid or just leave the loaf plain.
14) Repeat procedure to make the second loaf.
15) Place breads on parchment-lined baking sheet, covered, and let rise for two hours, or until doubled in bulk again.
16) While rising, preheat oven (and this is where I improvised again because cooking times varied too much) to 375 degrees F.
17) Combine one egg (well-beaten) and 2-3 tbs milk and brush over the tsoureki loaves. It is also common to sprinkle slivered almonds on top, though I did not.
18) Bake 15 minutes...check to see if browning too quickly, if so, decrease heat to 275 and bake another 30 minutes, or until golden brown. (I baked at 350 for 30 minutes, then decreased to 275 for last 15 minutes because the loaves were fairly golden at that point).
19) Another helpful hint...the bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
20) remove and cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then finish cooling on racks.
21) Store in covered containers or wrap and keep in freezer.

The end.