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Russian Easter Bread (Kulich)

March 25, 2016 by Meg 7 Comments

My favorite part of our Easter meal growing up was (and still is) Russian Easter bread--a soft yeast bread flavored with lemon and saffron. Slightly sweet and just amazing.I know most families eat Ham for Easter dinner, but for most of my childhood it was my Russian grandfather’s Shashlik (my brother shared the recipe for that family tradition here). I can still hear my grandfather’s baritone voice humming songs from Fiddler on the Roof as he tended the old coal barbecue in my grandparents’ backyard. Our Russian heritage was a big part of our Easter celebration, and the only thing anticipated more than the shashlik each year was my FAVORITE part of the holiday meal: Russian Easter bread (or Kulich).

Easter bread is a soft yeast bread flavored with saffron and lemon. The saffron gives it a lovely–and springtime appropriate–yellow hue, and the lemon brightens up the slightly sweet flavor to create an incredibly delicious bread. Since I made it on Tuesday, we’ve been eating it for breakfast, snacks, and as a side dish with dinner, and no one is complaining.

It’s traditionally made in a cylindrical tin (like a coffee can), but my family always just used regular bread pans (my mom said the coffee tins were too difficult to work with). It also is traditionally glazed with icing, but we enjoy ours simply, with butter and occasionally honey or fresh jam.

The only ingredients in the recipe that may not already be in your cupboard are lemon extract (or oil) and saffron. Lemon is no problem to pick up at the grocery store, and while may grocery stores do carry saffron, it’s usually pretty expensive there. Don’t let this deter you from making this recipe though. World Market and Trader Joe’s both carry it, and at a much lower price, so it’s really not that hard to find. You don’t need much, and it will last from year to year if you don’t use all of what you buy. And trust me, you’ll want to make this bread every Easter from now on.

So, if you have an empty space in your Easter menu plan (or even if you don’t…you can always cross off the vegetables, right?), try out this bread. Maybe even hum Fiddler on the Roof while it’s baking.

Happy Easter, everyone!

My favorite part of our Easter meal growing up was (and still is) Russian Easter bread--a soft yeast bread flavored with lemon and saffron. Slightly sweet and just amazing

Russian Easter Bread (Kulich)

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp. saffron
  • 1/4 cup boiling water
  • 4 1/2 tsp. (or 2 packages) dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1 tsp. lemon extract or oil (oil has a stronger flavor, so maybe use 1/2 tsp.)
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 cups flour

Directions:

  1. Place saffron threads in a small jar. Pour in boiling water. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and dry yeast in warm water. Let rest for 5 minutes. add melted butter, lemon flavoring, eggs, and salt.
  3. Pour liquid from saffron through a fine mesh strainer into the large bowl as well. Mix until a uniform batter is formed.
  4. Add flour two cups at a time, until you have a soft dough.
  5. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for five minutes, until smooth and elastic.
  6. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, and flip dough over so that the top of the dough gets oiled as well. Let rise for about an hour, or until doubled.
  7. Punch down and shape dough into two loaves. Place in greased and floured pans. Cover and let rise another 30-45 minutes, then bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes, watching carefully. If the loaves brown too quickly, cover with foil for the last few minutes of baking time. When they are golden brown on top and sound hollow when tapped, remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Slice and serve with butter.

Source: My mom, who based it on a recipe from her Russian grandmother

My favorite part of our Easter meal growing up was Russian Easter bread--a soft yeast bread flavored with lemon and saffron. Slightly sweet and just amazing  I regularly link up here.

My favorite part of our Easter meal growing up was (and still is) Russian Easter bread--a soft yeast bread flavored with lemon and saffron. Slightly sweet and just amazing

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Filed Under: Food Tagged With: Bread Recipe, Easter, Recipes

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Comments

  1. Michelle | A Dish of Daily Life

    March 25, 2016 at 5:58 pm

    I love old family recipes…in addition to the deliciousness, they also tend to have great stories and memories behind them as well. This looks delicious!

    Reply
    • Meg

      March 28, 2016 at 9:14 am

      So true. So many of our holiday traditions in my family revolve around the foods that we eat. I love it because I feel like each bite somehow connects me to the generations of my family who have also eaten these foods, and I imagine what their lives were like as they partook of these same meals years and years ago.

      Reply
  2. gigi

    March 30, 2016 at 7:49 am

    That sounds really interesting! I never know what to do with saffron. But, lemon, … I love lemon. This sounds beautiful and delicious. The kneading doesn’t sound to scary! I think I may just have to try this! Thank you! (and I love the soundtrack from Fiddler)

    Reply
    • Meg

      March 30, 2016 at 1:26 pm

      I hope you try and enjoy the bread! And, yes, I agree the music from Fiddler is wonderful. For a long time it was my dream to be one of the daughters in a production of that play, but now maybe I ought to set my sites on Golda…she’s got some of the best songs anyway. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Katie

    March 30, 2016 at 6:53 pm

    Pinned – this sounds so delicious and fresh, I love anything with lemon! Thanks for sharing at #HappinessisHomemade this week

    Reply
    • Meg

      March 31, 2016 at 7:22 am

      I love lemon, too. Especially in the springtime. It’s like the food version of sunshine. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by.

      Reply
  4. Charlene Asay

    July 13, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    This sounds amazing. I love lemon anything as well. Thanks for sharing this great recipe with us all.

    Reply

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