Russian Food & Recipes - Desserts

Author: marumu (on 31 Nov 2014)

Fonte: http://www.waytorussia.net/WhatIsRussia/RussianFood/Desserts.html

For the sweet tooths Russian dessert for breakfast and dinner. The favourites are:

Russian Desserts:
Pancakes (bliny) served with soured cream, honey or jam. Nothing is simpler and as essential as Bliny for
Breakfast.
Oladi same as pancakes, but thicker and more feeding.
Pastries (pirozhky) the pastries with apple are most popular.
Honey (med) honey from Bashkir region is considered to be the best.
Tvorog cottage cheese (or quark), usually served with honey or berry jam.
Syrniki can also be called "tvorog burgers" because they are made of tvorog and fried on a sauce-pan
after. Usually eaten with honey, sweet dressings, or jam. It is such a perfect breakfast that we dedicated a
whole page for them.
Zapekanka baked cottage cheese, Russian answer to cheese cake.

Russian 8 Best Dessert Recipes:

Russian Bliny recipe
Ingredients: 1 kg flour, 2 Tbsp sugar , 4 c milk, 1 tsp salt, 3 Tbsp butter , 40 g yeast , 2 eggs
Blinys have as many recepies as there are people. Read more about the sensitive nature of blinys.
Dissolve the yeast in 2 cups of warm water and adding 500 g flour. Mix until smooth, cover with a cloth and
set aside in a warm place for about an hour, or until the batter becomes bubbly.
Add salt, sugar, egg yolks, melted butter and mix thoroughly. Add the rest of the flour gradually and beat up
until smooth. Pour in warm milk gradually, and mix the batter thoroughly.
Cover with a cloth and set aside in a warm place to rise. After the batter rises, beat until it is settled and then
stir in beaten egg whites. As soon as the batter rises, cook the pancakes on a hot griddle.
The batter should rise no less than 3 times.

Zapekanka
600 grams of cottage cheese, 1 egg, 6-7 table spoons of semoline (or flour), half a glass of sugar, 1 tea
spoon of baking soda neutralised with vinegar, a bit of salt, 50 grams of sour cream, vanilla, raisins.
Mix the cottage cheese with all the ingredients and put everything on a cooking plate spread with butter.
Spread sour cream on top. Cook for 40 minutes.

Russian Fruit Cake

Ingredients: 3/4 cup raisins, rinsed and chopped, 3/4 cup dried apricots, rinsed and chopped, 1 cup mixed
candied fruits, chopped, 1/2 cup sherry, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/3 cup butter, 1 egg, beaten,
1/2 cup sourdough starter, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sliced almonds, 3
Tbsp sherry.
Combine all fruits with sherry and let stand overnight.
Cream sugars, butter and spices together until fluffy. Beat in an egg and then stir in sourdough starter. Stir in
fruit mixture and almonds. Sift flour, baking soda and a pinch of salt together into batter and mix
thoroughly.
Turn into a prepared loaf pan (lay a loaf pan with baking paper and grease it with oil). Bake in a preheated
oven center (about 275 degree F) until done.
Remove from a pan and cool well before removing paper. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of sherry over a cooled
loaf before serving.

Pumpkin Oladi
Ingredients: 500 g flour, 500 g pumpkin (grated), 2
eggs, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking
powder, 2 Tbsp oil
In a large bowl, combine grated pumpkin, eggs,
salt, sugar, flour with baking powder. Mix
thoroughly the batter. Bake olady on a preheated
pan until light golden.

Photo by Joshua - http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshua/58075/

Syrniki recipe
Ingredients: 250 cottage cheese (tvorog) , 75 g oil to fry, 2 Tbsp semolina flour, 3 Tbsp sugar , 2 Tbsp wheat
flour, 2 eggs
Combine all the ingredients, except flour, and knead stiff dough. Shape small balls and roll in flour. Fry in
oil for 3-4 minutes every side until bright golden.

Cake "Napoleon" recipe

Ingredients : 500 g flour , 250 g margarine , 1 egg , 1 Tbsp vinegar. Icing: 1 sugar, 0,5 l milk , 2 eggs , 2
Tbsp flour, 200 g butter, vanilla.
Icing: Mix sugar, eggs, flour and then pour over milk. Cook on low heat, stirring regularly, until dense.
When icing cools down a little, add butter and vanilla.
Dough: cut margarine into small pieces and toss with flour until smooth. Mix egg, vinegar in 1 cup of water
and add it to flour. Knead the dough until elastic and smooth. Divide the dough into 8 parts and put in the
fridge for 40-60 minutes.
Roll out every part very thin, put in a baking form, cut out remains, pierce with a fork and bake in a
preheated oven until light golden. Bake the remains of dough until golden colour.
Spread the icing on every slice and on the top. Crumb the dough remains and sprinkle all the cake with
them. Put in a fridge at least for a couple of hours.

Pirozhki recipe
Ingredients: 2 1/2 c Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, 110 g butter; 1 Stick, 1/2 cup sour cream , 3 large Egg
Yolks , 1/2 tsp Salt, 1 large Egg White; beaten with a little water for glazing
Combine the flour and cold butter in a processor or cut the butter with a pastry cutter into coarse crumbs.
Add the egg yolks, salt, and cream and process or knead lightly until the dough forms a ball.
Cut in half, wrapping each have in plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Roll out half the
dough on a lightly floured work surface, to about 1/4-inch thickness.

Cut into rounds with a 3-inch cutter or wine glass. Place a spoonful of the filling on one side of each round,
fold the top over, brush with a little of the egg glaze and seal with a fork or pastry cutter for a fancy edge.
Place each turnover on a lightly greased or non-stick baking sheet and brush with the glaze then sprinkle
with the sugar crystals. Bake in a preheated 375 Degree F (190 C) oven for about 20 minutes. Cool on wire
racks.

Kulich cake recipe

Ingredients: 1 cup milk, 1/2 yeast stick, 200 g sugar, 200 g butter, 3 eggs, vanillin, cardamom, nutmeg, salt,
white raisins, 4 cups flour (more if needed)
Dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in a small quantity of milk. As soon as the yeast mixture rises, pour in
the rest of milk, beat in eggs and whip carefully. Add sugar, combined with cardamom and nutmeg, and
melted butter to the mixture.
Then pour in flour slowly, stirring carefully, so that there aren't lumps. It the end, stir in raisins. Then divide
dough in loaf cakes, depending on the quantity and size of molds, and put in molds. Cover with a clean
towel and leave to rise in the mold.
If the dough is good, it usually takes 2-3 hours.
After that put in a preheated oven and bake on average heat until light brown. Don't open the oven often;
otherwise Kulich won't be light and fluffy.
Check the readiness with a wooden stick - put it in the Kulich. If the stick is clean, the cake is ready and can
be taken out.
Yum!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/desserts/

Russian Christmas Bread Recipe Krendel

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
This recipe for Russian Christmas bread or krendel produces a pretzel-shaped sweet yeast bread filled with dried
fruits that is lightly iced or, alternatively, dusted with confectioners' sugar or coarse sugar. While kulich and paska
are traditional for Easter, krendel is the preferred Christmas bread. Freeze the leftover egg whites.
Ingredients
Dough:

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) softened butter
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
About 3 cups all-purpose flour, more or less
Melted butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon mixed with 2 tablespoons sugar

Fruit Filling:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup chopped pitted prunes
1/3 cup chopped dried pears
2/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1 large apple, peeled, cored and chopped
1 cup sweet white wine or white grape juice
Glaze:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

2 teaspons lemon juice or milk
1/8 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
2-3 teaspoons warm water

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes
Rising: 90 minutes

Total Time: 170 minutes

Yield: 1 large Russian Krendel

Preparation
1. To make the dough: In a large bowl or stand mixer, dissolve yeast in 3 tablespoons sugar and 3/4 cup warm
milk. Add 1/4 cup butter, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, salt, egg yolks and 1 1/2 cups flour. Using the paddle
attachment, beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Switch to the dough hook
and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap
and let rise until doubled.
2. Meanwhile,to make the filling: In a large saucepan, bring butter, sugar, prunes, pears, apricots, fresh apple,
dried pear, and wine or juice to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 30 minutes or until fruit is tender and
mixture has thickened like jam, stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature.
3. When dough has risen, punch it down. On a lightly floured surface or between sheets of parchment paper,
roll into a 32-inch-by-10-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar mixture over
butter. Spread cooled fruit filling to within 1 inch of edges. Roll up from the 32-inch side as for a jellyroll.
Pinch seam together to seal. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down. Form into a
pretzel shape. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread 45 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 190
degrees. While the bread is baking, make the glaze by combining in a small bowl the confectioners' sugar,
lemon juice or milk, vanilla or almond extract and enough water to make a smooth, runny glaze.
5. Remove the krendel from oven let cool 10 minutes on a wire rack. While still slightly warm, drizzle glaze over
the top. Let cool completely before slicing and serving.

Easy Russian Plum Cake Recipe - Slivovy Pirog

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
This recipe for Easy Russian Plum Cake or Slivovy Pirog is known as in Cyrillic. It comes together
quickly and takes advantage of seasonal fresh plums. But don't count out fresh apricots, strawberries, peaches,
apples and even pears. This is a great cake to eat with coffee or tea, on a brunch spread, for breakfast or as a snack.

Ingredients

6 ounces/170g room-temperature butter

6 ounces/170g superfine/caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon cider or white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
5.5 ounces/160g all-purpose flour
3.5 ounces/100g potato flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 pound/454g plums, washed, sliced in half and pitted
Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Yield: 9-inch Strawberry Cake

Preparation
1. Heat oven to 350F/180C degrees. Lightly coat a 9-inch/24cm pan with butter and sprinkle with cake or bread
crumbs.
2. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the lemon zest and
mix well. Beat in the eggs one at a time along with the vinegar and vanilla until well incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours and baking powder. Add to the butter mixture and combine at
low speed until thoroughly mixed. Transfer to the prepared pan, smoothing down the top.
4. Arrange the plums, cut side down, in a decorative pattern on the surface of the batter. Pushing down lightly
on the plums. Bake 35 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean. Remove to a wire rack and let cool 20
minutes. Unmold and serve dusted with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Ukrainian / Russian Basic Sweet Yeast Dough Recipe

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
This basic sweet yeast dough recipe is known as zdobne drizhdzhove tisto in Ukrainian and sdobnoye drozhzhevoye
testo in Russian. It is used to make breakfast buns (sweet rolls), coffee cakes, filled tea rolls, nut rolls, poppyseed
rolls, Russian-style "pie" known as pirog and Ukrainian Christmas cake known as perekladenets or perekladanets,
among other pastries.
Ingredients

1 package active dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 cups milk
4 ounces butter
1/2 cup sugar
3 large whole eggs
3 large egg yolks
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 cups (or more as needed) all-purpose flour

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Rise time: 90 minutes

Total Time: 120 minutes

Yield: For 2 Nut or Poppyseed Rolls

Preparation
1. To proof the yeast: In a small bowl or glass measuring cup, stir together yeast and 2 tablespoons sugar in
warm water. Let proof until bubbly.
2. To make the dough: Scald the milk, remove from heat and add the butter, allowing it to melt. Stir in the 1/2
cup sugar and let the mixture cool to lukewarm. In a large mixing bowl using a Danish dough whisk or
wooden spoon, or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat whole eggs and egg yolks until thick. Add
the vanilla, zest and milk-butter-sugar mixture and combine well. Add the yeast mixture and beat well. Add
salt and 2 cups of flour. Beat until well incorporated. Stir in additional flour and knead for 10 minutes or until
dough is smooth and elastic. It will be sticky. If using a stand mixer, switch to the dough hook for kneading.
3. Scrape down sides of bowl and cover with greased plastic wrap or a linen towl (not terry cloth) and let rise in
a warm place until doubled. The dough is now ready to be used as desired. This recipe will make 2 nut rolls
or poppy seed rolls, 2 Russian-style pies, or 30 tartlets. You can refrigerate this dough for up to 24 hours to
be made up later.

Russian Torte Recipe - Apricot-Nut-Meringue Torte Recipe

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
This recipe for Russian Torte made with apricot filling, walnuts and meringue seems to be pretty popular among
Balkans, but not so much with Slavs. So wherefore the name? It's hard to tell. Serbians seem to favor this dessert
and maybe that's where it originated. Adding an exotic adjective or foreign country name to a recipe isn't unusual.
What is a little unusual is that it's called a "torte," which is a tall, multi-layered cake. This has multiple layers, but it's
quite flat like a tart. But it's not a tart, so I'll just stick with "torte." It can be filled with other fruit filling like
pineapple, date, prune, but I like apricot. Wherever this dessert originated, it's delicious.
Ingredients
Pastry Dough:

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup room-temperature sour cream
12 ounces soft butter
4 large egg yolks (save the whites)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Nut Filling:

16 ounces ground (not chopped) walnuts

3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Apricot Filling:

2 (12-ounce) cans apricot filling

Meringue:

4 large egg whites

1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes
Dough resting time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 110 minutes

Yield: 24 slices Russian Torte

Preparation
1. To make the pastry dough: In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water and stir in sour cream. Set aside. In
a large bowl, cream the butter, and mix in the egg yolks and yeast mixture. Then add the flour and salt, and
mix well. Divide dough into three parts and let stand wrapped in plastic for 20 minutes.
2. To make the nut filling: In a medium bowl, mix together ground walnuts, 3/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.
Reserve 1/2 cup of this for the topping and set the rest aside.
3. To assemble: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out into a thin
rectangle (the size of a half-sheet pan, about 18x12 inches). Place on a cookie sheet or into a half-sheet pan.
Top with ground walnut mixture, reserving 1/2 cup for topping.
4. Roll out second portion of dough and place on top of walnut mixture. Loosen the apricot filling by stirring it
well and spread it over the entire surface of the dough. Roll out third portion of dough and place it on top of
the apricot filling. Bake for 40 minutes. Remove from oven.
5. Toward the end of the 40-minute baking time, make the meringue by whipping the egg whites until foamy.
Add 1/2 cup sugar and vanilla and beat until stiff. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Spread
meringue over hot torte and sprinkle with reserved nut mixture. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until brown.
When cool, cut into diamond shapes to serve.

Russian Spice Cookies or Honey Bread Pryaniki

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert

A pryanik (pryaniki is plural) is a Russian spice cookie that is indispensable anytime tea is served, which is
all the time, but especially at Christmas! The simpler ones look like round mounds slathered with a flat
icing, while more elaborate varieties, like the famous Tula pryaniky, were often made in loaf form (thus, the
term "honey bread") and stamped with a wooden press to produce an embossed decoration. Today, these
fancier cookies are round with a stamped decoration and often filled with jam.
Tula, a half day's drive from Moscow, became the pryaniki-making capital of Russia. The Tulsky Pryanik
museum still stands in Tula today. Russian spice cookies or honey bread have been made since the 9th
century, originally with rye flour, honey and berry juice. Over time, other natural ingredients were added to
the mix, but it wasn't until trade began with the Middle East and India in the 12th and 13th centuries that
spices were added. Typically they were laden with cloves, ginger, citrus fruits, pepper, nutmeg, badian,
mint, anise, ginger and many other flavorings, giving them the name pryanosti or well spiced.
Formerly, pryaniki held special significance and were baked for births, funerals, weddings, holidays and any
festive occasion. Newly married couples took a pryanik to the bride's parents several days after their
wedding. Pryanik-making became such an art form and were in such demand that special craftsmen -pryanishniki -- passed their closely guarded family recipes down from one generation to the next.

As you might imagine, recipes, flavors, shapes and styles abound. Most often they are seen as cookies
pressed into a mold or rolled and cut or dolloped into rounds. They are drizzled with thin flat white, pink or
chocolate icing and sometimes decorated with berries, nuts or candied citrus peel, and some are filled with
jam. Here is a recipe for pryaniki that I particularly like.
Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup honey
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes
Refrigeration time: 60 minutes

Total Time: 120 minutes

Preparation
1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, allspice and salt.
2. In a separate large bowl, beat with an electric mixer at high speed the egg yolks and sugar until they are pale
yellow and thick.
3. Heat the honey in a small saucepan over low heat until it liquifies. Cool slightly so the heat doesn't scramble
the eggs. Stir the melted honey and the vanilla into the beaten egg mixture.
4. Mix in the dry ingredients to form a stiff dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
5. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place parchment paper the size of your cookie sheets on a clean surface. Using a
cookie scoop, portion out mounds of dough on the prepared cookie sheets leaving 1 inch between cookie.
They will flatten out somewhat but still retain a domed shape. Alternatively, roll out a portion of the dough
directly onto the pachment paper. Use your favorite cookie cutter shape or, more traditionally, a round 1
1/2-inch cutter. Cut rounds of dough spacing 1 inch between. Pick up scraps of dough and repeat with
remainder of dough on another lined cookie sheet. Lightly brush the tops of each cookie with honey.
6. Bake for 10-20 minutes, or until just golden, rotating the sheets halfway through for even baking. Cool on
the sheets until the cookies firm slightly. Transfer to racks to finish cooling.
7. In a bowl, add the confectioners sugar and enough water (1 to 2 tablespoons) and whisk together to form a
thin icing. Spread on cooled cookies with a pastry brush.

Russian Apple Cake Recipe - Yablochnyy Pirog

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert

Apple cake is a common dessert in Russia where it is known as yablochnyy pirog ( ) or

sharlotka. Sharlotka can also mean the classic French-type molded dessert known as a charlotte made with

lady fingers, custard or whipped cream and fruit. It's very confusing. What's pretty straightforward is
Russians' love for apples as is also the case with Ukrainians and Poles, and Eastern Europeans in general.
Because most Russians have apples on hand, this easy cake recipe can be made at a moment's notice -perfect for unexpected company that drops in for a glass of chai. This recipe calls for a European 9x11-inch
pan, but a 9-inch springform pan also can be used.
Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch salt
6 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and
cut into medium chunks
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Confectioners' sugar for garnish

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 70 minutes

Yield: 8 servings Apple Cake

Preparation
Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x11-inch pan or a 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray and set
aside. Whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and set aside. Toss the apples with lemon
juice and spread evenly in the prepared pan.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until thick and lemony. Beat in the vanilla. Gradually beat in
the flour until well incorporated. Pour over the apples in the pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until puffy and
golden.
Cool to room temperature and dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Christmas Honey Cake Recipe - Ukrainian Medivnyk

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
This recipe for Ukrainian Christmas honey cake or
medivnyk and other honey pastries are traditional for
Christmas, New Year's and Jewish New Year or Rosh
Hashanah. The scarcity of sugar in the old days inspired
Ukraine bakers to experiment with honey in baked
goods, to good effect. There are as many versions of
medivnyk as there are families. Some are made with
sour cream, some with almonds or chocolate, and some
are yeast-raised. What remains constant is the use of
honey, preferably buckwheat honey. Honey pastries
take a few days to ripen for flavors to be at their best.
Makes 2 (8-inch-by-4-inch) loaf pans of Ukrainian Honey Cake - Medivnyk

Ingredients

1 cup honey (preferably buckwheat)

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup chopped dates
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter or parve margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup strong coffee

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 90 minutes

Total Time: 120 minutes

Preparation
1. In a small saucepan, mix honey, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, and bring to a boil, mixing frequently.
Remove from heat and cool to lukewarm.
2. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Lightly coat two (8-inch-by-4-inch) loaf pans with cooking spray. In a medium
bowl, combine raisins, currants, dates and walnuts, and 2 tablespoons of the flour and mix well. Set aside.
3. In a separate medium bowl, mix together remaining flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl or stand mixer, cream together butter and brown sugar. Add egg yolks, one at a time,
beatting well after each addition. Mix in the honey. Add flour and coffee alternately until well mixed. Stir in
fruit-nut mixture. Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter.
5. Bake about 1 1/2 hours or until toothpick tests clean. Allow to stand a few days before serving.

Ukrainian Christmas Bread Recipe Kolach

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
This recipe for Ukrainian Christmas bread or kolach is a slightly sweet yeast bread that is braided and shaped into an
oblong loaf or three round braids stacked one on top of the other. In the latter case, a candle is placed in the middle
and is an essential part of the Christmas Eve supper (Sviata Vechera). The bread isn't eaten until Christmas Day
because it contains eggs and Orthodox Christians fast for Advent, including Christmas Eve. Kolach is a symbol of good
luck, eternity, prosperity, and is also featured at memorial services for the dead.
Ingredients
NOTE: This recipe will make 1 braided oblong or round loaf. To make three round braided loaves to be
stacked on top of each other, triple the recipe. The three loaves should be baked in 3 tube pans of
decreasing size, 12-inch, 8-inch and 10-inch would be perfect.

1 package active dry yeast

1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm water
3 large eggs
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup warm water
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water for glaze

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes
Rising: 180 minutes

Total Time: 260 minutes

Yield: 1 loaf Ukrainian Kolach

Preparation
1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, 1 teaspoon sugar and 1/3 cup warm water. Let stand 15 minutes or until bubbly.
2. In a large bowl or a stand mixer, beat eggs until thick. Beat in the yeast mixture, 2 tablespoons sugar, oil and
salt. Then add the 1/2 cup warm water and mix until fully incorporated. Add 2 cups flour and mix well. Add
remaining flour and knead until dough is smooth and blistered.
3. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour or until doubled. Punch
down dough and let rise again until doubled. Knead by hand a few times and then turn out onto a lightly
floured board. Divide the dough into three equal pieces and braid. Shape into an oblong loaf and place on a
parchment-lined pan. Or shape into a circle, joining the ends, and place in a greased 10-inch tube pan. Cover
with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled.
4. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake 50-60 minutes or until instant-read thermometer registers 180 degrees.
Brush bread with egg yolk-water mixture the last 5 minutes of baking or until thermometer registers 190
degrees. Remove from oven and turn out of pans to cool completely on a wire rack.

Ukrainian Babka Recipe

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
Ukrainian babka and paska are two sweet yeast breads served at Easter. Unlike fluted Polish babka, Ukrainian babka
is tall and cylindrical like Italian panettone and Russian kulich. It can be
iced or left plain.
You will need cylindrical pans for this bread, but 2-pound coffee cans will
work. Ukrainian babka is sliced in rounds across the loaf from the
bottom. The sliced bottom crust is not eaten (until it's the only piece
left!) and serves as a protective cover to prevent the rest of the bread
from drying out.
Ingredients
Sponge:

1 cup milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water

3 packages active dry yeast

Dough:

10 large egg yolks

2 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
8 ounces (2 sticks) melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
Grated zest of 1 lemon
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light or dark raisins (optional)

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Total Time: 80 minutes

Yield: 3 Ukrainian Easter Babkas

Preparation
1. To Make the Sponge: Scald the milk and cool it to 110 degrees. Place 1/3 cup flour in a medium bowl and
pour the milk over, beating until smooth. Dissolve 2 teaspoons sugar in lukewarm water, and stir in the
yeast. Combine with the milk-flour paste, beating well. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until light and
bubbly.
2. To Make the Dough: In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the egg yolks, whole eggs and salt. Add the 1 cup
sugar and continue beating until light. Beat in the butter, vanilla and lemon zest. Add the sponge to this
mixture and mix well. Add the flour and knead 7 minutes by machine or 10 minutes by hand. Add the raisins
if using. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
3. Punch down dough, knead a few times and let it rise again. Grease babka cylinders or coffee tins. Fill the
pans 1/3 full. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until tripled. Brush tops with 1 large egg beaten
with 2 tablespoons of milk or water.
4. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 325 degrees and bake 30 minutes,
then lower temperature to 275 degrees and bake 15-20 minutes longer. Cover tops with aluminum foil, if
they are browning too quickly. Babkas are baked at a high temperature at first so the dough will puff up and
form a firm crust, and then the temperature is lowered so the dough doesn't scorch before it is done baking.
5. Remove from the oven and let stand in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn loaves out of pan, running a knife
around them, if necessary, and cool completely on a wire rack. If desired, the cooled loaves may be iced with
a confectioners' sugar glaze.

Ukrainian Easter Bread Recipe Paska

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
Ukrainian Easter bread or paska (which means Easter) is a slightly sweet egg bread that can be decorated with
religious symbols. It's taken to church on Easter morning in a special basket with other foods to be blessed. Slovaks
also serve paska at Easter but this is not to be confused with the molded Easter cheese dessert of the same name.
Ukrainians also feature babka for Easter but instead of the fluted shape favored by the Poles, theirs looks more like a
Russian kulich.
Makes 1 large Ukrainian Easter Bread

Ingredients

1/2 teapoon plus 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups plus 5 cups all-purpose flour
3 beaten large eggs
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 75 minutes

Preparation
1. Scald the milk and set aside to cool to lukewarm. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon sugar in water and sprinkle yeast
over it. Mix and let stand 10 minutes. Combine yeast mixture with scalded milk and 2 1/2 cups flour. Beat
until smooth. Cover and let rise until light and bubbly.
2. Add eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, melted butter, salt and 4 1/2 to 5 cups flour to make a dough that is not too stiff
and not too slack. Knead until dough no longer sticks to the hand and is smooth and satiny (about 7 minutes
in a mixer, longer by hand). Place in a greased bowl, turn to grease both sides, cover with greased plastic
wrap and let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rise again.
3. Reserve 1/3 of the dough for decorating. Shape the rest into a round loaf and place in a 10- to 12-inch
greased round pan. Now shape the reserved dough into decorations of choice -- a cross, swirls, rosettes,
braiding, etc. Cover the pan with greased plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled.
4. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Brush bread with 1 large egg beaten with 2 tablespoons water. Bake 15 minutes.
Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake an additional 40 minutes or until an instant-read
thermometer registers 190 degrees. If necessary, cover the top of the bread with aluminum foil to prevent
overbrowning. Remove from oven and turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.
5. Note: Some cooks make a stiffer, nonyeast, sculpting dough for the decorations so the shapes won't distort
when baked. You can use the one as described in Serbian cesnica.

Russian Easter Bread Recipe Kulich

By Barbara Rolek - Eastern European Food Expert
Russian kulich is a sweet yeast-risen bread typically served at Easter. It just wouldn't be Easter Sunday in Russia
without a piece of this tall, cylindrical bread that has been blessed by the parish priest. Another standby for Easter is
paskha, a sweet molded cheese dessert that is often spread on a slice of kulich.
Kulich is a cross between a bread and a cake with a slightly sweet crumb. As with most foods, the recipe varies from
family to family. But it usually has raisins, nuts and candied citrus rind. You'll need a 2-pound coffee can or kulich
pan to bake it in.
Ingredients

Dough:
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar + 1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup scalded milk, cooled to 110 degrees

1 cup + 3 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
8 large egg yolks (reserve 2 egg whites)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup chopped candied orange rind
.
Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspons lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
2-3 teaspoons warm water

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes

Total Time: 85 minutes

Yield: 1 large Russian Kulich

Preparation
1. In a large bowl, combine yeast, water, 1/4 cup sugar and milk, mixing until yeast and sugar have dissolved.
Stir in 1 cup flour until well blended. Cover and let stand in a warm place for 1 hour.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar and egg yolks. Here is a QUICK TIP: How to
Freeze Leftover Egg Whites. Add yeast-flour mixture from Step 1, stirring well. Add vanilla, cardamom, salt
and enough of the 3 to 3 1/2 cups flour to make a soft dough. Stir in raisins, almonds and orange rind.
3. In a small bowl, beat 2 reserved egg whites until stiff. Fold them into the dough made in Step 2. Knead by
machine or hand until a smooth and elastic dough forms, about 3-5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning
once to coat both sides. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until doubled.
4. Coat a 2-pound coffee can or kulich pan with cooking spray. Punch down dough and knead a few times.
Place it in the prpeared can, cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until dough reaches the top of the
can.
5. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place pan on a baking sheet and bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees
and bake another 35 to 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
6. While kulich is baking, prepare glaze by combining in a small bowl the confectioners' sugar, lemon juice,
almond extract and enough water to make a smooth, runny glaze.
7. Remove kulich from oven and let cool 10 minutes. Unmold from can and cool on a wire rack. While still
slightly warm, drizzle glaze over the top. To serve, cut off the crown and slice base into rounds. To keep any
leftovers moist, replace the crown.

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