This Easter cake Saffron smells so beautiful, and the almond aftertaste of marzipan beckons you to try it again! :-) If you don’t have saffron, or just don’t like it, you can, of course, miss it :-)
Marzipan can also be omitted, replacing the same amount, by weight, with candied fruits or dried fruits.
Usually, for any baked goods, I have a long preface with instructions on what is possible and what is not... But in this case, everything is quite simple, you just need to follow the recipe exactly.
The Easter cake dough is, in fact, quite sticky at every stage. That's how it should be! Once again I will repeat the truth “Wet dough is happy dough!” A holey air product as a result.”
The frosting here is also quite sticky, but beautiful, and the most delicious of all the frostings I know! :-) You know, icing is not always tasty! :-))
Just one instruction! Don’t forget, you need to bake Easter cake in a good mood and with bright thoughts!
Enjoy your cooking process!
2 small Easter cakes
Ingredients
- 120 grams of powdered sugar
- 250 ml milk, slightly warm
- 150 grams butter
- 70 grams
- 4 yolks
- A pinch of salt
- 100g
- A pinch of saffron
- 2 tbsp. rum or cognac
- 600 grams of flour
- 20 grams fresh yeast (or 7 grams dry instant yeast)
For the glaze:
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 protein
- 4 tbsp. Sahara
- ¼ tsp. almond extract or 1 drop essence
1. Sift flour, salt and powdered sugar into a large bowl. Dissolve the yeast in a small amount of milk. Melt the butter in the rest of the milk. Cool a little. Soak saffron in rum.
2. Beat the yolks until smooth and add to the flour.
Pour into flour, along with yeast and milk and butter. Replace with soft, elastic dough (6-7 minutes with your hands). It may still stick to your hands a little, but don’t add flour, it will be more airy. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave for 1 hour.
3. Roll marzipan pieces and candied fruits in flour.
Add them to the risen dough, along with the saffron and rum in which it was soaked.
Knead the dough again.
Place in greased and floured molds (Filling only 1/2 of the mold).
Cover with a kitchen towel and leave for another 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
5. Brush the top of the Easter cakes with milk, place in the preheated oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 160°C. Bake for 40-50 minutes. The cakes should brown and rise. Do the toothpick test. Pierce it deep into the center of the cake. It should come out dry when the cake is ready.
Ingredients
From the specified quantity I got 3 medium cakes and 3 small ones.
- saffron - 1\2 tsp.
- flour - 800 gr
- yolks - 5 pcs
- sugar - 150 gr
- milk - 250 ml
- dry yeast - 10 g
- vanilla - 1 g (I have 1 bag)
- butter - 200 gr
- raisins - 50 gr
For azure:
- 1 protein
- 50 g sugar
- a pinch of food coloring (I applied light green, purple and pink colored glaze to the small Easter cakes)
Preparation:
1. First, dilute the saffron in 150 ml of hot water and set it aside to let it steep. Saffron will give Easter cakes a special aroma and color.
2. In warm milk we dilute yeast and 1 tsp. Sahara.
3. Add 200 grams of flour, mix well and put in a warm place.
I pour hot water into a larger bowl to 1/3 of the height and put a bowl of dough in it, put it in a warm microwave for 30 minutes.
Be careful not to let water get into the dough.
4. Grind the yolks with sugar.
5. Add the yolks to the dough.
6. Now add saffron water.
7. Add the remaining flour and knead the dough. It should not stick to your hands.
8. Again we send the dough to our warm place for 1 hour.
9. While the dough is rising, you can prepare the raisins. To do this, wash it and fill it with hot water.
10. Add raisins to the dough and put it in a warm place to rise again.
11. Place the dough in baking pans 1/3-1/2 of the height of the pan. Let the dough rise again in the molds for a few minutes.
12. Place the Easter cakes in a preheated oven at 160-170 degrees for 30-35 minutes. The exact time depends on the oven, and remember that small cakes are always ready earlier than larger ones. We check readiness with a match or toothpicks; after piercing they should be dry.
Pour 2 tablespoons of hot water over the saffron and leave for 30 minutes. In a deep bowl, combine 100 grams of flour and yeast. Heat the milk. Strain the saffron infusion.
Pour warm milk and saffron infusion into the mixture of flour and yeast, mix the resulting dough thoroughly with a silicone spatula.
Cover the bowl with the dough with cling film and leave for 30 minutes in a warm place, the dough should “fit” well.
In a separate container, combine the egg, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla sugar.
Mix the egg and sugar mixture thoroughly.
Melt the butter and cool slightly. By this time the dough should be well prepared.
The dough for saffron cake can be kneaded by hand or using a bread machine. To knead the dough in a bread machine, you need to pour the dough, a mixture of eggs and sugar, butter into the bucket, add the remaining flour and salt, set the “Kneading dough” mode (it takes me 1.5 hours). If you knead the dough by hand, then combine the dough, butter and a mixture of eggs and sugar in a bowl, mix, then add the remaining flour and salt, knead the soft and tender dough, leave it to rise in a warm place for 2 hours, during which time the dough should be well rise.
The dough will be smooth, tender and very pleasant to work with.
Knead the finished dough, and then add candied fruits, raisins, nuts, and so on. I decided to make saffron cake with chocolate chips.
The dough will increase in volume. Bake saffron cakes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees until the toothpick is dry. Baking time depends on the size of the cakes.
Cool the finished saffron cakes well, then cover with glaze and decorate with confectionery sprinkles. I covered the cakes with protein glaze: combine 1 egg white, 3 tablespoons of powdered sugar and a drop of lemon juice, beat until smooth and fluffy and cover the cakes.
Saffron on yolks will certainly decorate your Easter table and become a wonderful symbol of abundance and joy in your home!
Happy upcoming Bright Resurrection of Christ!
Ingredients
Flour-650-700g.
Milk-250ml.
Fresh yeast-30g.
Butter-200g.
Vegetable oil - 4 tbsp
Yolks-5 pcs.
Sugar-150g.
Vanilla sugar-2 tsp.
Salt-1/2 tsp. (no slide).
A pinch of saffron stigmas. (or 1/3 ground saffron).
Vodka-50ml.
Besides: Raisins-100g. Candied fruits-150g.
Egg white - 1 pc. Powdered sugar-100-120g. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp.
From the specified amount of ingredients you get 3 Easter cakes with a height of 11 cm. and width - 11cm.
STAGE 1
Saffron stigmas are used to color and flavor confectionery products. Instead of saffron stigmas, you can use ground saffron.
Grind the saffron stigmas in a mortar and add vodka. Let it brew for 2-3 hours.
STAGE 2
Wash the raisins and soak them in cold water for 10-15 minutes. for swelling. Then dry the raisins with a paper towel. Mix the drained raisins with 1 tablespoon of flour.
STAGE 3
Cut the butter into cubes, put it in a saucepan and heat for 30-40 minutes. As it melts, remove the foam.
After this, strain the oil through double-folded gauze. We try to prevent sediment from getting into the oil.
Cool the strained ghee and put it in the refrigerator to harden.
STAGE 4
Let's heat 50 ml. milk to 37 degrees, add 1 tbsp. a spoonful of sugar and yeast. Stir until the yeast is completely dissolved.
Place the yeast in a warm place for 15-20 minutes. The yeast should rise and increase in size.
STAGE 5
Let's prepare the dough:
Pour the remaining milk (200 ml) into a large bowl and add 150g. sifted flour. Let's mix. The dough should turn out like thick sour cream.
Then add yeast. Let's mix. Cover the bowl with the dough with cling film and place in a warm place for 40-60 minutes. During this time the dough should rise
STAGE 6
Grind the yolks with sugar, vanilla sugar and salt. Grind until white.
STAGE 7
Add the mashed yolks to the suitable dough. Let's mix. Next, add saffron tincture. Let's mix.
STAGE 8
Add sifted flour in small portions. Mix. First, knead the dough in a bowl with a wooden spoon.
STAGE 9
Then transfer the dough to the table and knead with alternate addition of ghee and vegetable oil. The dough must be kneaded well, it should not be stiff and should not stick to your hands or the table. Knead for about 40-60 minutes.
Place the kneaded dough into a bowl with high sides, cover with cling film or a towel and place in a warm place for 3-5 hours.
When the dough has risen, knead it for 2-3 minutes, then add raisins and candied fruits. Knead until the candied fruits and raisins are mixed with the dough.
STAGE 10
Transfer the dough with the baked goods to a bowl with high sides, cover with cling film and put in a warm place for 3-5 hours.
Knead the risen dough a little on the table.
STAGE 11
Grease the Easter cake pans with oil and sprinkle with flour. Shake off excess flour. Place a circle of parchment paper on the bottom of the pan.
The form can be saucepans, cauldrons, paper forms, tin mugs or tin cans for canned vegetables and fruits (jars with a white coating inside will not work).
Place the dough in the molds 1/3 of the way up. Cover the molds with a towel and place in a warm place for 1-1.5 hours. During this time, the dough should rise to the edges of the pan.
Bake in a preheated oven to 180 degrees for 30-60 minutes. Baking time depends on the size of the cakes.
Do not open the oven door for the first 20-25 minutes, otherwise the cakes may fall off. If the top of the cake burns and the cakes are not ready yet, they need to be covered with a circle of foil.
STAGE 12
We take the finished cakes out of the oven. Carefully run a thin knife along the sides of the pan, separating the cake from the pan. If the cake sticks slightly to the bottom of the pan, wrap the pan in a wet towel for 1-2 minutes.
Carefully place the cakes on a wire rack, cover with a clean towel and leave to cool.
Cover the cooled Easter cakes and decorate them with culinary sprinkles, marmalade, candied fruits or ready-made store-bought decorations.
Ingredients:
measuring glass - 250 ml
premium wheat flour - 1 kg
milk - 500 ml (2 cups)
sugar - 2 cups
softened butter - 350 g
egg yolks - 6 pcs.
egg whites - 3 pcs.
raisins - 100 g
candied fruits (preferably citrus fruits) - 100 g
vanilla sugar - 3 bags (7 g each) (I took 20 g of powdered sugar with natural vanilla)
dry yeast - 13 g (I used fresh pressed yeast - 40 g)
ground cardamom - 1 tsp. (I took 1/2 tsp)
grated nutmeg - 1 tsp. (I took 1/4 tsp)
a pinch of saffron, poured in 2 tbsp. boiling water
lemon oil - small test tube 2 ml (I took the grated zest of 2 lemons)
salt - 3/4 tsp.
For fondant:
powdered sugar - 200-250 g
lemon juice - 8 tsp.
To decorate the top:
almond petals
Process:
Preparing the dough.
The day before baking, Milena advises soaking the saffron stigmas in very hot water for a day. I conveniently forgot about this, so I soaked it about 4 hours before preparing the dough, pouring boiling water over the saffron. In principle, the color was rich and the aroma was also present.
Next, you need to sift the flour in advance and weigh the sifted flour.
Let's prepare the dough.
I don’t really like dry yeast; often you don’t know what to expect from it. I take fresh pressed ones, multiplying the amount of dry ones by 3.
Dissolve the yeast in warm milk (I first dissolve it in a small amount, then add it to the main volume). Add 1/2 cup sugar, half the flour, mix everything with a wooden spoon and place in a warm place. The dough should double in size, do not allow it to settle!
I put the dough in the oven and after 20-30 minutes (I can’t say for sure) I remembered about it :)) It even more than doubled in size.
I place the dough in the container where the dough will be placed in the future.I really like large bowls for this task.Tupperware
- they have tight-fitting lids and a very smooth inner surface, from which the remaining dough can be easily removed when dry. I have a 4 liter bowl, but I still have to divide the dough into two bowls after kneading the dough for the first time. So my plans are to buy a 7.5 liter Maximilian
Preparing the filling.
Beat the butter with a mixer with the remaining sugar into a fluffy mass, add the yolks, spices, lemon oil (I used finely grated zest), vanilla sugar and saffron tincture.
When the dough is ready to sink, combine the finished dough and the filling, stirring well with a wooden spoon.
Beat the egg whites with a mixer into soft peaks and add to the dough.
Mix gently until smooth. It turns out that this is the mass.
Then add flour in parts. The dough becomes like this.
And the most important thing begins - kneading. It is this part that I advise you to read from Milena carefully, if you are new to Easter cakes; it is this part that is missing (which is a shame!) in the “People’s Book of Recipes”.
Kneading the dough.
You need to knead the dough for 20-30 minutes using your hands. The structure will change. And if at the very beginning it seems that there is not enough flour, do not rush to add more than the required amount. I didn’t even have enough 50 g (that’s how a good housewife ran out of flour at the wrong time :))), but I continued to “persuad” and knead the dough, seeing that the texture was changing and the dough was becoming smoother(read Milena for detailed tips)
.
This is what the dough looked like after kneading for 10 minutes.
After half an hour of effort, the dough began to lag behind the walls of the dish and became homogeneous (albeit viscous), making “smacking” sounds. I decided that enough was enough.
Rising dough takes 3-4 hours.
Cover the bowl with the dough with a tight lid and set it to rise in a warm place without drafts.I put it in a cold oven.
After an hour, the dough took up all the dishes,
I kneaded it, divided it into two bowls and left it for another hour and a half.
During this time I prepared raisins and candied fruits.I had candied melons, but I didn’t add them to the cake in the photo; my son asked for a cake with only raisins.
The raisins should be dry, the candied fruits should be about the same size as the raisins. Before adding the prepared fruit mixture to the dough, roll it well in flour so that it does not settle in the dough.
After the dough has risen a second time, knead it, add raisins and candied fruits, knead a little so that the fruit mixture (or nut mixture, depending on what you like) is well distributed. Place the dough into the molds to proof.
Proofing.
Prepare the cake pans in advance by greasing them with butter and sprinkling them with flour. Place a circle of baking paper on the bottom of the molds. The specified quantity will yield 4 large Easter cakes.I had 2 large molds, 3 small ones, and then I made rolls with almond filling from the remaining dough.
We immediately place the forms on the wire rack. We spread the dough into one third of the mold, leave it to rise in a warm place without drafts (I have this place near the oven column). The dough should grow as much as possible in the pan during proofing, almost to the very top. It took me an hour to do this.
Baking Easter cake.
The oven needs to be preheated well in advance to 160 degrees, I heated it for about half an hour. Carefully place the rack with the risen Easter cakes (without unnecessary shaking, let alone blows) on the lowest level of the oven. Bake for 40 minutes without opening the oven. Then increase the temperature to 180 degrees and bake for another 10-15 minutes. We check the readiness of the Easter cake with a long splinter, piercing the Easter cake to the very bottom, it should be dry.
Let the finished Easter cakes cool a little, carefully release them from the molds, and finally let them cool on a wooden board. Decorate as desired. This time I made lemon fudge, I liked this option much more than the protein glaze - it hardens quickly, does not smear, crumbles to a minimum when cutting, and is very tasty :)
P/S. I filmed it on the second day, and that’s all that was left in the morning.)))
