Greek Easter Bread (Tsoureki)

Tsoureki is a very aromatic and soft bread that's served during Easter in Greece.

Tsoureki is Greeks' favorite Easter treat. Well, this and the Traditional Greek Easter Cookies. It's a very soft and airy sweet bread, filled with sweet flavors and aromas. All buttery and topped with flaked almonds (some add sesame but I think it steals the show from the Mahleb's flavor). I will explain in a bit what Mahleb is and why it's A MUST in this recipe.

Table Of Contents

• How To Make Tsoureki
• Tsoureki Flavor
• What To Serve With Tsoureki
• Storing
• Recipe

This delicious bread traditionally comes in the shape of a braid, which makes it look as good as it tastes. And the word bread doesn't do it any justice as it's so soft similar to a croissant or a very fluff brioche bread.

How To Make Tsoureki

So in order to make Tsoureki, you first create a bread-like dough and then add the butter to the dough by kneading. This way the moisture of the butter creates all these stringy layers. Similar to when making puff pastry.

And I'll be honest with you. It does require quite some time and effort to make. It's not an easy nor a simple process but it does worth, both the time and effort. It requires patience to rise and shape and rise again.

But let's break it down a bit:

First of all, you make a starter dough in order to dissolve and activate the yeast. You do this by mixing flour, water, sugar, and yeast. Then let triple in size covered at room temperature.

Secondly, you make the dough. You can do this using either a wooden spoon or an electric mixer with the hook attachment on. Give the dough a rest again.

Thirdly, fold in the butter. The butter should be melted yet cooled down to room temperature so it won't kill the yeast. Knead and fold the dough just like you would do with any bread.

Rest the dough and let double in size. It takes about 3 hours at room temperature.

You can leave the dough at room temperature until doubled and then place it in the fridge overnight to do the shaping and second rise the next day. The dough will be much easier to handle. Before you do handle it though allow it to warm up a bit for 1, 5 hours at room temperature.

And finally, it's time to shape the bread and proof it in the oven until it doubles in size.

Tsoureki Flavor

Tsoureki is very very aromatic. Its delicious Eastern aromas are what make it so unique and absolutely irresistible. These spices are Mahlep, Mastic, Cardamom, and orange.

But I will start telling you about Mahleb powder. Mahleb is used as a sweet flavoring for some Middle Eastern desserts. It's made out of the seeds of a cherry species and has a very strong and unique flavor (unique in a good way, not a weird one :P). If you have never tried Mahleb then you are definitely missing out. Its flavor is really enticing.

From the moment it starts to bake it makes the whole house smell like you are in a bakery. It's 10 times stronger than vanilla.

There is a bakery in Northern Greece, at Thessaloniki that's very famous for its Tsoureki. Called 'Terkenlis'. This is the most famous bakery for buying Tsoureki and every Greek that visits it agrees on this: the smell of Tsoureki breaks your nose even if you are very far away from that bakery (they bake Tsoureki non-stop). Of course, the other spices contribute to that amazing flavor and aroma as well.

If you can't find Mahlep where you live, I'm sharing a link here with the one I use.

The Different Shapes

The Greek Easter bread always comes in the form of a braid. But it can be a 3-piece braid, a 4-piece braid, or the simplest of all a 2-piece one. Ladies, I think pretty much we all know how to make a braid (ugh, except the French one which drives me crazy). But for whoever doesn't, I included a simple sketch showing how to make a braid.  I thought it would be easier this way.

What To Serve With Tsoureki

My number one way to enjoy Tsoureki is to spread some butter on it. It's so good. You can of course enjoy it as is, as it won't be lacking flavor or with jam. Or even a chocolate spread.

Storing

Once Tsoureki is cooled to room temperature, wrap it very well with plastic wrap and then place it in a plastic bag. Close it air-tightly as well as you can so it keeps soft and fresh. Keep like this at room temperature for up to 4-5 days. Adding Tsoureki to the fridge will make it firmer as it's a buttery bread.

You can pop it in the freezer though. Again wrapped very well with plastic wrap. And to unfreeze just place in the fridge overnight and then at room temperature for 2 hours. It will last for up to 3 months in the freezer.

Recipe

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