How to Bake Russian Yellow Bread

Makes: 1 loaf

Preparation time: overnight

Cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients needed to make Russian Yellow Bread:

• 1 ¼ lb all purpose flour
• 2 sachets dried yeast
• 15 fl oz full fat milk
• 2 eggs
• Beaten egg yolks, for glazing
• 3 oz caster sugar
• 3 oz unsalted butter
• 2 oz almonds, chopped
• 3 ½ oz sultanas
• Finely grated zest of half a lemon
• ¼ oz saffron, ground
• Icing sugar, for dusting
• Dash of freshly ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

Cooking instructions for Russian Yellow Bread:

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
• Empty the sachets of yeast into half of the milk, along with 1 tsp of sugar for each 5 gm of the yeast and stir well until they dissolve.
• Set aside in a warm place for about 15 minutes to let it become active; the mixture will turn foamy at this point.
• Crack the eggs into a separate large bowl and whisk them together until well combined.
• Add a dollop of softened butter, caster sugar, sultanas, saffron, lemon zest as well as a dash of salt to the above mixture and stir them well together into a uniform mixture without lumps.
• Add the flour, small amount at a time, and fold them into the mixture until all of it is incorporated to form a smooth, pliable dough.
• Wrap it up with a cling film and set aside in the refrigerator overnight.
• Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap it and split it into three equal parts.
• Dust your working surface with flour and knead each of them separately for several minutes.
• Roll each portion into a rectangle of few feet length; each of the flattened dough must of same length.
• Braid them togethert end pinch the free ends firmly to seal.
• Shape it into a ring and place it in a baking tray, lined with parchment paper.
• Cover it with a plastic sheet and set aside until it rises to double its previous size.
• Add a tbsp of milk into the beaten egg yolks and mix them together until well mixed.
• Paint the surface of the dough ring with this egg wash and sprinkle the almonds all over it.
• Top it up with a dash of ground cinnamon and bake in the oven at the preheated temperature for half an hour or until it turns golden brown.
• Tap the base with your finger; if a hollow sound comes out then it is ready.
• Take it out of the oven and dust with lots of icig sugar.
• Serve and have fun.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons