After my mother’s recipe for Easter cookies (find recipe here) I want to present you her recipe for Easter cakes. Traditionally, we make the cake on Holy Thursday.
Ingredients
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- 1.400 g. hard flour for Easter cake, sifted ,
- 1 cup fresh milk ,
- 1½ cup buttermilk ,
- 2½ sachets of dry yeast ,
- 1 cup fresh orange juice ,
- 2½ cups sugar ,
- 6 eggs ,
- 1 teaspoon mahlepi powder ,
- 1 teaspoon kakoules (cardamom) powder ,
- zest from 2 oranges ,
- 50 g. almond for sprinkling
Instructions
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- Over low heat in a saucepan melt butter with sugar, stirring constantly to prevent sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Remove saucepan from the heat. ,
- Add orange juice and eggs and mix well with whisk. Mixture's temperature should not exceed 35ºC. ,
- Put flour, yeast, mahlepi, kakoules and orange zest in the mixer and mix well. ,
- Add liquid ingedients and mix well for 8-10 minutes. If needed add some flour. Dough shouldn't stick on hands and must be fluffy and buttery. ,
- Make dough into ball, put it in a basin, cover it and let it 1-2 hours (depending on room temperature) to expand. ,
- After dough expands, we put it on the counter and knead lightly to deflate. ,
- Divide dough into three pieces and each of these pieces into three extra pieces. Knead three sticks and make a braid. ,
- Butter baking sheets put on the cakes and cover them with towels, so they won't dry. ,
- Leave enough distance between them because they inflate. Let them double their volume. ,
- Mix together egg, water and suger and soon as the cakes inflate spread this mixture. Spread shlightly shrinks cakes, so let them 10-15 minutes to inflate again. ,
- Sprinkle almonds. ,
- Τα ψήνουμε σε προθερμασμένο φούρνο στους 160°C, στον αέρα, και τα ψήνουμε για 45΄ μέχρι να ροδίσουν. ,
- Bake in preheated oven at 160ºC for 45 minutes until golden.
