Kulich (Easter bread) with cream and vanilla
In addition to the recipes using sour cream and milk, I recommend preparing Kulich with cream. They turn out incredibly tender, aromatic, and delicious, and the dough itself is very pliable. From this amount of ingredients, you can bake 2 large Kulich (11 cm high and 17 cm wide) and 10 small ones (7 cm high and 6 cm wide).
- Total cooking time
- not set
- Number of servings
- 2
- Recipe difficulty
- 4 / 5
Ingredients
for 2 servings
- cream 22% 350 ml
- butter 200 g
- sugar 250 g
- eggs 6
- dry yeast 10 g
- raisins 350 g
- one vanilla bean
- flour 500-600 g
Instructions
Step 1 of 23
Warm the cream (avoid boiling). Stir in 2 tsp sugar.
Step 2 of 23
Add the yeast and stir.
Step 3 of 23
Add 200 g flour and stir.
Step 4 of 23
Cover with a towel or napkin and leave in a warm place.
Step 5 of 23
Wait until the starter doubles in size (this took about 30 minutes).
Step 6 of 23
Slice the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds.
Step 7 of 23
Separate the eggs into whites and yolks. Cream the yolks with sugar.
Step 8 of 23
Mix the mixture with vanilla seeds.
Step 9 of 23
Beat the egg whites with 0.5 tsp salt until fluffy peaks form.
Step 10 of 23
Combine the starter with the yolks and mix.
Step 11 of 23
Add softened (not melted) butter and mix.
Step 12 of 23
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Step 13 of 23
Gradually add the remaining flour (the amount may vary depending on the quality of the product). Thoroughly knead the dough; it should be uniform, not too stiff and not stick to your hands.
Step 14 of 23
Cover with a towel or napkin and leave in a warm place.
Step 15 of 23
Wait for the dough to rise (this took about 30 minutes).
Step 16 of 23
Rinse the raisins and pat them dry.
Step 17 of 23
Mix the raisins into the dough.
Step 18 of 23
Cover again with a towel or napkin and place in a warm place.
Step 19 of 23
Allow the dough to rise well again (this took about 30 minutes).
Step 20 of 23
Grease the baking pans with oil. Divide the dough, filling each pan to ⅓ of its height.
Step 21 of 23
Cover with a towel or napkin and leave in a warm place.
Step 22 of 23
Once the dough has risen, place it in an oven preheated to 100 degrees for 10 minutes. Then increase the temperature to 180 degrees and bake until done (approximately 30 minutes). Check for doneness with a wooden toothpick or skewer: it should come out dry from the browned Kulich (Easter bread).
Step 23 of 23
Decorate as desired. I used meringue cream and confectionery sprinkles.