Tsoureki

Tsoureki is a traditional sweet bread which has many names all over the world. Tsoureki is made all year round but it is especially popular during Easter as it is considered a type of  Easter bread. It is also called lambropsomo or lambrokouloura (Lambri means Easter).

Tsoureki is made with butter, milk, sugar, yeast, eggs and with the addition of aromatic ingredients such as mastic, mahlab, cardamom and vanilla. The preparation time for a Tsoureki is about 1 hour and the cooking time is between 50 minutes to 1 hour.

All the ingredients must create a homogeneous mixture. The temperature of the mixture should not exceed 50°C as it destroys the yeast which will be placed in later. After the eggs are mixed in, the yeast and warm water are added. Flour is then used in order to make the dough thicker and to be able to make the dough into its shape.

There are round tsourekia and there are braided tsourekia which are shaped accordingly. If you want to have braided tsourekia do two or three braids. Beat an egg yolk with some water and then spread the egg on top of the trourekia. Add sliced almonds on top and leave them for about 35-45 minutes so that they rise again.