Easter is very important in Greece
Easter is probably the most important Greek Orthodox religious festival. In celebration, I have decided to share my delicious recipe for Tsoureki, the Greek Easter bread. This year Greek Easter is actually one week after western Easter. Sometimes it falls at the same time and sometimes it can be as far as a month apart. This is because the Greek Easter date is based on the Julian calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian calendar used by most western countries. Easter is also my absolute favourite time of year in Greece. It’s spring, the weather is warming up and flowers are blooming everywhere. Even though I’m not really religious, it is such a family and community orientated time, that is really wonderful to be part of.
Midnight mass on Holy Saturday is a special experience
On Saturday evening before Easter Sunday, pretty much everyone goes to the midnight Service of the Resurrection. When the service ends, the bells ring and the priest exclaims ‘Christos Anesti’, or ‘Christ has risen’. People bring specially decorated white candles to the service, and the priest then starts to light them with the Eternal Flame. People pass the flame along, lighting the candles that are next to them. This flame has been flown by military jet to Greece from Jerusalem, on the morning of Holy Saturday. So it is a very important part of the celebration. It symbolises the resurrection of Christ.
We were lucky enough to enjoy this service at the church of St George on Mount Lykavittos in Athens a few years ago. Lykavittos is a hill 300m above sea level and it looks out over the whole city. It was an absolutely magical experience – and if you ever have the chance, it’s worth the climb up! You can see the flickering candlelights coming down the hill for miles. We usually go to the Greek church in Cape Town, but sadly we will miss it this year.
Easter means family time and lots of tasty food
After the midnight mass, you head home and enjoy the traditional Easter soup ‘magiritsa’ with your family. This can go on till the early hours of the morning! I’m afraid this soup is not for me, as it is made of the intestines and organs of the Sunday lamb… Most people absolutely love it though! On Easter Sunday it’s traditional to do lamb or goat on the spit – if you walk around the streets of Athens, this is something you will see all over. Lots of people do their own lamb spit braai, or just simply roast lamb. This is served with lots of other tasty dishes, including tsoureki.
Tsoureki is baked on Holy Thursday
Tsoureki is traditionally baked on Holy Thursday, and then eaten on Easter Sunday. Today though, you can pretty much get tsoureki all through the year. There are all sorts of scrumptious and fancy varieties available – with nut toppings, ganache coverings or with stuffings such as hazelnut or halva. So much deliciousness! The breads are usually braided into loaves or rounds. Tsoureki also often have dyed eggs pressed into the dough. The eggs symbolise the blood of Jesus, whilst the bread marks the resurrection. I sometimes add them, but I quite like the tsoureki without as well.
In its traditional form, tsoureki is a sweet yeast bread, typically enriched with milk, sugar and eggs. Its texture is relatively similar to brioche, though it has a very distinct taste. Typically, you flavour tsoureki with orange zest and very importantly, mastica resin and ground mahlepi seeds.
Mastica and mahlepi give tsoureki its authentic flavour
Mastica or mastic gum is the resin from mastica trees. These trees only grow on the Greek island of Chios. Mastica has a slightly pine like flavour, but be careful not to add more than the recipe says though, as it can make the bread bitter. Mahlepi or Mahleb is a spice made from wild cherry kernels. The stones are cracked and the seeds inside are ground into a powder. Mahlepi has a slightly bitter nutty taste – similar to bitter almond. You can buy these spices in Greek or Middle Eastern stores, or online. Although the tsoureki won’t taste completely authentic without them, it will still be delicious. If you don’t have mastica and mahlepi, simply substitute them with 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom and 1 tbsp. almond extract.
Leave plenty of time to make your tsoureki
Make sure you leave plenty of time to make your tsoureki, as it does take a very long time to proove. The first prove can take up to three or four hours. It’s important to start with all your ingredients at room temperature, in particular the eggs. Then, when adding ingredients to the yeast, make sure they are at a lukewarm or body temperature. Having them too hot will kill yeast, and too cold will mean your bread will take forever to prove. This recipe makes one large loaf of tsoureki. If you can’t eat it all at once, it freezes well. Eat the tsoureki simply slathered with butter, or toasted with butter and honey. For a particularly scrumptious treat, turn it into French toast!
Tsoureki
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Ingredients
- DOUGH:
- 500g flour
- 10g dry yeast (or 20g wet yeast)
- 50ml lukewarm water (body temperature)
- 140g sugar
- 90g butter, cut into small cubes
- 90ml milk
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 2g mastica
- 5g mahlepi
- 10g salt
- Zest of 1 small orange
- TOPPING:
- 10g flaked almonds
- 50g sugar
- 50ml water
Instructions
- Place the yeast in a bowl with the lukewarm water and 1/2 tsp. of the sugar. Mix to combine and cover loosely with cling wrap. Set aside in a warm place for about 15 minutes or until the yeast has bubbled up.
- Blend the mastica and the mahlepi with 1 tbsp. of the sugar to a fine powder. You can either do this in a spice grinder or NutriBullet, or in a pestle and mortar. Don’t add extra mastica and mahlepi, as too much can make the tsoureki bitter.
- Place the remaining sugar, butter and milk in a pot. Heat very gently. You just want the butter to melt and the sugar to dissolve. Try not to make the mixture too hot, as you will have to wait for it to cool down before you can add it to the yeast. Once melted, transfer to a large mixing bowl, and allow to cool to lukewarm.
- Sift the flour, salt and ground spices together into the bowl of a standup mixer. Fit the mixer with a dough hook.
- Whisk the eggs and then remove 1/2 an egg for brushing the top (about 25g). Add the eggs and orange zest to the lukewarm butter mixture and whisk to combine. And the bubbled yeast and carefully whisk to combine.
- Pour the egg and butter mixture over the flour. Gradually mix in on a low setting with a dough hook. It will form a sticky dough. Don’t be tempted to add more flour as this will make the final result dry.
- Once the dough has come together, you can turn the mixer up slightly higher. Knead for about 15 minutes.
- Check the dough – it should be coming away from the sides of the mixing bowl and looking smooth and shiny. It will still be soft, but it should be making a ball in the mixer.
- Place the dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place to prove until at least doubled in size. This could take from 2 – 4 hours. As it is quite a rich dough with lots of egg and butter, I usually find the dough does take almost 4 hours to prove properly.
- Once the dough has doubled, knock it back by kneading it for a minute or so on a clean surface.
- Divide the dough into three equal pieces.
- You are now going to roll out each piece of dough. Don’t use flour to do this – if it is sticking (though it shouldn’t) you can add a little oil on your surface. Roll the dough out into a fat sausage with your hands – pick it up at each end and shake the dough to stretch it. Roll it again on the surface to even it out. Pick it up and shake it again. You can roll each piece out to about 40cm.
- Place the three rolled out pieces of dough next to each other at 10cm intervals. Take the ends on one side and place them on top of each other. Press down to secure. Plait the bread by taking the left piece of dough and placing it in between the other two pieces, and then the right piece and placing it between the other two, and so on and so forth until you have got to the end. Press the ends together to secure. Plait it quite tightly so that the bread doesn’t fall apart.
- Take each end of the tsoureki and tuck the pieces you pressed together underneath – this will give your bread a neater appearance and ensure that it doesn’t come apart during the second prove and baking.
- Carefully transfer the loaf to a greased baking tray. Grease a piece of cling wrap and lay it loosely over the loaf.
- Place in a warm place to prove until doubled in size. This will take about 1 1/2 hours.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan).
- Once the tsoureki has doubled in size, remove the cling wrap.
- Whisk the reserved 1/2 egg with 1/2 tbsp. water and a pinch of salt in a small bowl. Carefully brush the loaf with the egg wash. Sprinkle over the flaked almonds.
- Place the tsoureki in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 160°C (140°C fan) and bake for a further 20-30 minutes. If you feel the loaves are getting too dark, turn down further to 150°C (130°C fan). The tsoureki is done when it is a dark golden colour and sounds hollow when you knock it.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack.
- Meanwhile, place the remaining sugar and water in a small pot. Stir to dissolve all the sugar, then bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and brush generously onto both the tsoureki. Enjoy!
