Easter Bread with Red Eggs/Tsoureki

Delicious festive sweet yeast bread that was light and airy in texture but rich in flavour.

The dough was quite easy to make - once the sponge was combined with the other ingredients, it took only 7 minutes of kneading in a stand mixer and 7 cups flour. Fermentation and proofing times were as per the recipe. The dough made 2 large braids decorated with red eggs dyed as per the instructions on page 141 (which looked fine before baking, albeit a little more fuchsia than red) and sliced almonds. They baked in 30 minutes in my oven (to an internal temp of 202-206F).

The bread was lovely and soft while it was still warm from the oven but I preferred it a few days later when the flavour of the mastic and mahlepi were more pronounced. Family couldn’t get enough of it (a good thing since the loaves were huge) but I shared most of the bread with colleagues at work who raved about the flavour and texture.

An excellent, rich, and slightly exotic flavored bread -- this one is a winner.

The dough came together nicely, and all the times (rising, etc) seemed accurate. I was unable to find Mahlepi, although my DH has now pointed out that we have a Mediterranean store on the opposite side of town, so I might repeat if I find it. I added a bit more mastic than called for because that was what I ended up with after grinding a large nugget. The loaves rose more than I had expected, and you will see that they cooked together (photo 3), but easily separated out of the oven.

I braided one load, and my 14 yr old daughter the other, and I bet you cannot tell them apart. I didn't bother with the egg wash (substituted milk) or the almonds, its quite yummy just the way it is. Very nice sliced, lightly toasted, with a cup of coffee on an easter morning.