How to cook a delicious yeast cake for Easter at home. TOP 4 recipes with photos. Tips and secrets from experienced chefs. Video recipes.
No matter how tasty the cottage cheese Easter is, Easter cake is always the main dish on Bright Sunday. Lush and rich, with candied fruits, nuts, raisins, covered with glaze … Baking a yeast Easter cake, of course, is not easy. This is a "capricious" dough, which can immediately deteriorate only from the clapping of the oven door. Sometimes even experienced housewives have a dizzy head. Therefore, in this material, we will reveal all the secrets of what real Easter bread should be and help you prepare it correctly so that it is at its best.
Cooking secrets and tips
- Easter cake dough does not like haste, fuss and rude attitude. You shouldn't even slam the door. According to the signs, this process must be approached in a good mood and in silence.
- Unlike ordinary yeast dough, cake dough is distinguished by a large amount of fat and eggs. That is why it takes longer for it to "ripen".
- The room in which the cake is prepared must be warm and free of drafts. Then the dough will come up faster. If there is the slightest draft, it may fall off.
- Always use only "live yeast" for kneading the dough, they will speed up the fermentation process. But if there are none, take dry yeast marked "active".
- Be sure to sift the flour several times, then the cakes will be more fluffy, because when sifting, the flour is saturated with oxygen.
- The oil should be natural, fresh and with the highest percentage of fat. Before adding it to the dough, melt and let it brew. This affects the tenderness of the dough.
- Separate the whites from the yolks very carefully, because even a small particle of the yolk that has got into the whites will negatively affect their splendor when whipping.
- It is necessary to knead the dough for a long time so that it is saturated with oxygen and becomes lush. It is better to do it with your hands.
- Vanilla, candied fruits, raisins, lemon zest are added to the dough to improve the aroma and taste of the cake. Prepare dried fruits and nuts in advance. Use saffron or turmeric to add color to the dough.
- The cake dough should be of medium consistency. Since Easter made from too tight dough will be "heavy" and will quickly become stale, from too soft it will creep and be flat. Adjust the consistency of the dough with eggs and flour.
- Choose dishes for kneading dough with high sides, because it "rises" approximately 2 times.
- Lubricate the baking tins well with butter and fill 1/3 of the volume with dough. it will fit and grow.
- Do not open the oven during baking to prevent the dough from settling.
- To prevent the top of the cake from burning when it is browned, cover with a piece of paper moistened with water.
- When you take the cakes out of the molds, put them sideways on a towel and cool, and then put and grease with glaze.
- They need to be glazed after cooling.
Classic Easter cake recipe
We offer a recipe for a festive dish - Easter cake according to the classic recipe. It is prepared in several stages, the dough is started, and then the butter dough is kneaded on its basis.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 498 kcal.
- Servings - 4-6 pcs.
- Cooking time - 6 hours
Ingredients:
- Flour - 6 tbsp.
- Milk - 2 tbsp.
- Eggs - 5 pcs. (2 pcs. And 3 yolks per dough, 2 egg whites for icing, 1 pc. For greasing)
- Butter - 350 g
- Fresh yeast -25 g
- Sugar - 1 tbsp. in dough, 100 g for glaze
- Raisins - 200 g
- Almonds - 200 g
- Vanilla to taste
- Lemon zest - 1 tablespoon
- Salt - 0.5 tsp
Making a classic Easter cake:
- For dough, combine warm milk (28 degrees), sugar (1 tablespoon), flour (3 tablespoons) and all yeast. Stir well, cover with a towel and place in a warm place to ferment. After 30 minutes, the dough should be covered with bubbles and rise 2 times.
- For the test, mash the eggs with sugar and salt, and carefully add them to the leaven. Add all the flour and mix everything gently.
- Melt the butter in a water bath, add to the dough and stir.
- Add raisins, lemon zest, vanilla, almonds into the dough and knead for 20 minutes to separate from your hands.
- Cover the dough with a towel and leave to ferment for 1.5-2 hours in a warm place.
- When it increases in volume, knead it again and leave it to grow. Repeat this procedure 1-2 more times, then the cakes will be lush.
- Grease the molds with butter and spread the dough over them. Leave them to ferment and expand. When this happens, brush the surface of the cake with a mixture of beaten egg and water (1 tablespoon).
- Bake the cake in the oven at 200-220 ° C for 30-45 minutes until golden brown. Place a container of water at the bottom for moisture.
- Cool the finished baked goods and cover with glaze. To do this, beat the whites a little, then gradually add sugar and continue beating until a thick foam. Decorate the cakes as desired: candied fruits, chocolate, nuts, sprinkling.
Milk Easter cake
For a bright and good Easter day, prepare a milk Easter cake. This is an excellent dough, from which products with a delicate crumb and amazing aroma are obtained.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 1 kg
- Milk - 300 ml
- Eggs - 7 pcs.
- Sugar - 1, 5 tbsp.
- Butter - 250 g
- Raisins - 200 g
- Dried cranberries - 150 g
- Fresh yeast - 50 g
- Salt - 3/4 tsp
- Vanillin - 0.5 tsp
- Ground nutmeg - 1 tsp
- Almonds - 50 g
- Candied fruits - 50 g
Cooking milk Easter cake:
- Heat the milk to a warm (not hot) temperature, put yeast in them and dissolve. Add sugar (1 tablespoon), add half of the flour and stir. Leave the dough to rise for half an hour to double in size.
- Prepare the dough based on the dough. To do this, mash 3 whole eggs and 3 yolks with sugar and salt. Add the resulting egg mixture to the dough, add the second part of the flour and mix.
- Melt the butter in a water bath, add to the dough and mix again.
- Then add raisins, dried fruits, vanilla, nutmeg, dried cranberries to the dough and knead the dough for 20 minutes so that it separates well from your hands.
- Cover the dough with a towel and leave to infuse in a warm place for 2 hours.
- When it rises, slowly lower it clockwise with your hands, cover it again with a towel and leave to infuse.
- Spread the dough into the tins with oiled oil, filling them no more than half, and leave to grow.
- Beat eggs (1 pc.) And water (1 tablespoon) and grease the top of the cake with this mixture when it comes up.
- Place the dough in a hot oven and bake at 180 ° C for 60 minutes.
- While the cake is baking, make the frosting. To do this, beat 3 proteins and sugar (150 g) well to form a thick foam.
- Brush the finished chilled cake with a protein mixture and sprinkle with candied fruits and almonds.
Almond cake
Moderately dense and at the same time very airy, moderately sweet and almost does not crumble - almond cake filled with glaze. It is soft, does not stale for a long time and remains fresh.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 1 kg
- Milk - 500 ml
- Fresh yeast - 50 g
- Eggs - 5 pcs.
- Sugar - 200 g
- Butter - 300 g
- Peeled almonds - 300 g
- Lemon - 1 pc.
- Raisins - 1 tbsp.
- Salt to taste
- Black chocolate - 400 g
- Cream - 100 g
Cooking almond cake:
- Boil the milk and cool to steam temperature.
- Dissolve yeast in a small part of it and add sugar (1 tablespoon).
- Add flour and frothed yeast to the remaining milk. Mix everything thoroughly, cover with a towel and leave in a warm place to ferment.
- Whisk the yolks with sugar, add the previously melted butter and mix.
- When the dough rises, add the egg-butter mass into it, add grated lemon zest, chopped almonds, raisins and salt. Mix everything thoroughly.
- Whisk the remaining whites into a thick, white and firm foam, add to the dough and stir gently from top to bottom.
- Divide the dough into tins with oiled and leave in a warm place to come up.
- Then grease the surface of the cake with yolk and bake in the oven until tender at 180 ° C.
- Lubricate the chilled cake with icing. To do this, melt the chocolate with cream in a water bath until smooth and cover the finished chilled baked goods.
Easter cake with orange zest
Cake with orange peel is the top of the culinary art. The result will exceed all your expectations! It has a fresh aroma, pleasant color and citrus flavor.
Ingredients:
- Flour - 750 g
- Milk - 1 tbsp.
- Yeast - 60 g
- Sugar - 180 g
- Butter - 180 g
- Egg yolks - 5 pcs.
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Raisins - 1 tablespoon
- Candied orange fruits - 1 tablespoon
- Orange zest - 1 tablespoon
Cooking Easter cake with orange zest:
- Stir the yeast with warm milk, sugar (1 tsp), flour (1 tbsp) and place in a warm place to ferment.
- Beat the yolks, eggs and sugar in a water bath until the mass thickens, and cool it.
- Pour the warm egg mass into the sifted flour, add the suitable yeast and warm milk. Knead the dough so that it is airy and does not stick to the hands and sides of the dishes.
- Slowly add melted butter, zest, raisins and candied fruit. Knead the dough well and leave to ferment.
- After increasing the dough in volume by 2 times, transfer it to a greased and floured form, and leave to approach again.
- Then grease the cake with a beaten egg and bake in the oven at 180 ° C for 35-40 minutes.
- Cover the finished cake with orange peel with any glaze and decorate to your taste.
