Tag: tsoureki

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Easter Bread – Tsoureki

Tsoureki is a sweet, soft, fragrant Greek Easter bread which I first made last year in lockdown, having been unable to get Easter Eggs delivered.

We loved it, and it seems to have stuck as a tradition.

Of course, last year I had a proper kitchen, and a kitchen machine with a dough hook to take the strain. It needs a good fifteen minutes of kneading! This year was rather different.

I think that this was the most challenging thing I’ve tried to make in our tiny caravan kitchen so far, but it worked well, and we feasted on it for breakfast yesterday morning with enough left over for today too.

Rich with eggs, orange zest and mahlep, a spice made from ground cherry stones, it’s sweet, fragrant, soft and delicious. And all the more enjoyable for being a time consuming thing to make, and a once-a-year-treat.

Husband enjoyed his straight with no embellishments, washed down with a cup of coffee. I decided to Northern Up my slice with butter and rhubarb jam, Yorkshire style. Which was unutterably delicious. No judgements, now!

Here’s a link to the recipe I used if anyone wants to try it.
Tsoureki https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/tsoureki-recipe-traditional-greek-easter-bread/

Happy Easter to you all!

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Easter bread and no eggs

The chocolate eggs I ordered two weeks ago for the family didn’t arrive in time for the Easter weekend. This feels like a bit of a first world problem, to be honest, so we’ve all agreed that we’ll enjoy them if and when they arrive later this week, and in the meantime to mark the day, I made Tsoureki.

Hugh remembers this from his days in Istanbul. I’d never tasted it before, but was up for a voyage of discovery, and bizarrely I had most of the ingredients needed in the cupboard.

This is a special Greek Easter bread sweetened with sugar, enriched with egg yolks and made fragrant with orange zest and mahlep, a curious spice made from cherry kernels. I had a packet of mahlep powder gifted from a visit from relatives a year ago and had never used it, not really understanding what it was or what it added.

The bread was soft and doughy, a cross between cake and bread in texture, and sweetly fragrant. We nibbled some as it came out of the oven yesterday, and will eat the rest with honey for breakfast with our coffee this morning.

Thinking about it, if the chocolate eggs had arrived in time I wouldn’t have searched for a celebratory alternative. A perfect example of creativity blossoming in adversity in our current captivity! And a delicious one that will form a part of our Easter celebrations from now onwards, I think.

New beginnings.