Today I’m sharing my take on a Kulich – a little different as I’m making individual ones rather than one large one. I find the smaller ones are more enjoyable and can be shared more easily amongst friends and family.
I won’t lie, it had been some time since I made one of these last time, probably about 6-7 years. However, I was going through my old notes and found a full written recipe and method, so thought now would be the ideal time to share the recipe with you.
Although this may not be the most traditional recipe available, it’s a pretty stable and easy recipe. A Kulich is a traditional Russian Easter bread, it’s enjoyed by many countries which has an orthodox christian population. It’s notably consumed between Easter and the pentecost – it’s very similar to an Italian panettone but a kulich is heavier and more dense.
Anyway, lets get started, shall we?
Ingredients:
Bread Dough:
150g strong white bread flour.
125g plain flour.
1/2 tsp salt.
1 tsp ground cinnamon.
7g dries yeast.
100ml milk, tepid.
50g butter.
50g granulated sugar.
2 eggs.
50g raisins.
1 tsp almonds, chopped (I used flakes but it all works).
Glaze:
225g icing sugar.
3 tbsp milk (or as many as needed to get the desired consistency).
100s and 1000s.
Method:
To get started on the recipe, y0u’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of the ingredients, lightly oiling a bowl with some flavourless oil and get stay equipment you may need, such as a mixing bowl and dough hook. When the time comes, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.
To start on the dough, take a mixing bowl and place in both the flours and salt – mix them together until they are well combined. No go ahead and add in the remainder of the ingredients and then mix on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium high speed. The dough won’t really pull away from the sides of the bowl like a usual dough, as this is enriched and much stickier to handle.
Transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with clingfilm, then leave it somewhere warm and allow to prove. It should double in size, almost touching the top of the bowl – the amount of time this takes will vary due to factors like climate and humidity.
Once the dough has doubled in size, you can go ahead and knock it back. This is the process of removing the gasses that have built up in the dough during the first prove.
Now is the perfect time to process the dough, so simply scale into 100g balls of dough and round them off into more rounded shapes, then place into your individual cases, cover loosely with closing film and allow to have the second prove, just until the dough has domed and is touching the top of the case – this is how you know its time to finish them by baking.
Simply, remove the clingfilm from on the dough and then place into your preheated oven and bake for 14-16 minutes or until they’re well coloured on top.
Once baked, remove the Kulichs from the cases, I used disposable ones but you can use silicon if you’d prefer. Cool on a cooling rack and once cool enough make the icing glaze.
For the icing, simply place icing sugar into a bowl and add enough milk into the icing sugar, so you have a thick but spreadable consistency, this is best made as you intend to use it.
Pipe the icing over the top, allowing to drip down the side a little but not majorly. Finish each with a generous sprinkling of 100s and 1000s or similar sprinkles.
Enjoy – best enjoyed on the day or the day after.
That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.