Ukrainian Easter Bread with Rum
This recipe is an interesting twist on the traditional recipe for Ukrainian Easter Bread as it contains rum. Rum adds moisture and flavor to the dough. Also, we decorate our Paska with small eggs made of almond flour.
Equipment
- 1 springform
- 3 bowls
- 1 whisk
- 1 small pot
Ingredients
Ingredients for the starter:
- 200 g white flour
- 12 g dry yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 150 g lukewarm water
Ingredients for the dough:
- 400 g white flour
- 5 g yeast
- 100 g white sugar
- 7 egg yolks
- 150 g unsalted butter, melted
- 9 g vanilla sugar
- 50 ml rum
- ¼ tspn turmeric
- 1 tspn lemon juice
- ¼ tspn salt
- 150 g raisins
- 150 g dried apricots
- 1 tbsp vegetable/olive oil
Ingredients for glazing:
- 50 g white chocolate chips
- 100 g butterscotch or peanut butter chips
- Cake and dessert décor
Ingredients for small Easter eggs:
- 125 g almond flour
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp egg whites
Instructions
- To prepare a starter, pour lukewarm water into a bowl, add yeast and sugar, and mix well. The yeast will dissolve in 1-2 minutes. Gradually add flour and mix again. Cover the bowl with a towel and put the starter in a warm place for an hour. During this time, the starter will rise.
- In a bowl, whisk 7 egg yolks with sugar for 5 minutes.
- Combine flour with salt, yeast, vanilla sugar, and turmeric in a larger bowl. Mix well.
- Add the starter and melted butter to the flour. Mix well with a hand for 10 minutes. (Brush your hands with vegetable oil - the dough won’t stick).
- Put the dough in a warm place to rise for an hour.
- Meanwhile, mix rum and the raisins, and chop finely dried apricots.
- While waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the almond Easter eggs. Combine almond flour with maple syrup and egg whites and mix.
- Knead the almond dough gently with your hands. Leave it to rest for 10 minutes.
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Take a piece of the almond dough, roll a small egg with your hands, and place it on the paper. Continue until all the dough is used.
- In an hour, transfer your dough for the Paska to the kitchen counter or cutting board, and knead it again for 10 minutes. The dough should not flop between your fingers. Straighten it out and sprinkle the dough with raisins soaked in rum and with dried apricots. Wrap the fruit up with the dough and make a ball. Put it aside for 15 minutes.
- As the dough is ready, cut it into two parts – to make a small, taller Paska, and a big Paska. (It depends on what kinds of baking forms you have. (Cut the dough into several pieces if you have only small forms. If you want to make one big Easter Bread, don’t cut the dough). We used an 18 cm springform and a tin can. (Line the can with baking paper too, it will be easier to remove the small Paska from it).
- Brush the springform with vegetable oil. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).
- Make nice balls from the dough and put them in the forms. Make sure the top is smooth and without wrinkles.
- Bake for 35 minutes.
- Bake the almond eggs on a separate shelf in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Once the Paskas and the almond eggs are ready, remove them from the oven and put them aside to cool.
- Prepare the glaze: in a small pot, melt white chocolate chips (for the smaller Paska) and peanut butter chips for the larger one.
- Brush your Paskas with this glaze, and sprinkle with the edible cake décor. We have topped our Paskas with pieces of dried apricots.
- While the chocolates are still warm, you can quickly “glue” your almond eggs to the surface.
- The final step is to brush the almond eggs with the sugar glaze (in 1:1 proportion) and sprinkle them with the cake décor.
- Refrigerate your Paskas overnight and serve. This bread tastes better after it rests in the refrigerator for a day or two. Keep the leftovers in the fridge too.
