Brioche Bread Greek style is the subject of my new video where you can discover how to make the traditional Greek Easter dessert known as Tsoureki. Tsoureki is a sweet, egg-enriched bread, formed of braided strands of dough, very common in many cuisines of Europe and Western and Central Asia.
I don’t know where you come from and if you have tasted it, or if you know it as Brioche Bread, kulich, panettone, or challah. But I do know one thing. No matter what the name or the origin, the taste is divine and totally worth the effort it takes to prepare it.
And to make that effort much easier and success guaranteed, I filmed this 5-minute video for you. At this point, I would like to thank my friend Marina Mavromati owner of the absolutely brilliant cooking Blog “Il laboratorio di mm skg”, to whom I owe the know-how of the Brioche Bread Recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1 Kg Bread Flour for brioche (and some extra for dusting etc.)
- 65 gr Fresh Yeast
- 400 gr Sugar,
- 250 gr Cow milk Butter
- Water 100 ml lukewarm
- 300 ml Whole Milk,
- 5 eggs (4 for the dough and 1 for icing)
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla powder
- 1 Teaspoon Gum Mastic powder
- 1 Teaspoon Orange Zest or Orange Essence powder
- 2 Teaspoons Cardamon powder
- 2 Teaspoons Mahaleb powder
Tips:
- Tsoureki is sensitive to cold, so if you want your dough to rise, make sure your kitchen is warm and protected from drafts. Keep in mind that you must perform the kneading and shaping in a hurry as the dough must not get cool.
- Your ingredients must also be warm, so make sure to get them out of the fridge and leave them in room temperature for a few hours before use (milk is not included).
- Oddly the above does not apply to the yeast, which can be used directly from the refrigerator or even the freezer.
- Do not go heavy on the spices because they will give a heavy bitter taste to the brioche.
- Mind the flour you use. Get a special flour for bread. No matter how well you run the recipe will not get the right result without the proper flour.
- Don’t add too much flour and preferably add it gradually (not like I did in the video). When you have added all the ingredients except the butter, your dough should be too soft and fluffy (mine became a little thicker than I’d like).
- If you add too much flour your Brioche Bread will burst during cooking.
- Allow the dough to rest and rise and it will then get thicker and easier to handle.
- No exaggeration to kneading. Try not to pummel the dough but literarily fold it again and again, until all ingredients are incorporated.
In this video, I will present you my version of Marina’s original recipe that you can find here. For more details and instructions in English visit my earlier post about Greek Easter Brioche.
So get the ingredients, watch the Video, pick up your sleeves and bake the most delicious Brioche Bread.
