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Winemaking
A braided Easter yeast cake with a delicate, fluffy crumb and a filling of curd cheese, apricots and orange zest is a fantastic idea for a simple, lightning-fast, yet wonderfully flavorful and enticingly aromatic holiday bake. The recipe for this Easter „loaf” comes from beyond our eastern border and is often prepared not only as a cake, but also as buns. We recommend making a larger batch right away so no one runs out of sweetness this coming Easter!
Recipe for yeast cake with curd cheese and apricots
Preparation
Heat the milk to 35-40⁰C, add a teaspoon of sugar and the yeast. Mix and set aside for 10 minutes. Crack 1 egg into a bowl, add the remaining sugar and salt, and mix. Add the melted (not hot!) butter and the milk with yeast. Add the flour to a large bowl, then the wet ingredients. Stir with a spoon and knead by hand for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft but should not stick to your hands. Form a ball, cover with a cloth and leave the dough to rise for 2 hours, until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, prepare the cheese filling. In a bowl, mash the curd cheese with a fork, add the powdered sugar and the egg yolk. Mix. Add the finely chopped apricots and orange zest.
When the dough has risen, transfer it to a pastry board dusted with flour and roll it out into a 30×22 cm rectangle about 0.5 cm thick. Spread the cheese filling over the dough, leaving about 1.5 cm from the edges. Roll the dough with the filling up tightly, then gently flatten at both ends and cut lengthwise into two equal strands. Join the strands at one end and braid them together so that the cut side with the filling always faces up. Carefully transfer the braid to a loaf pan lined with baking paper and brush with an egg beaten with 1 teaspoon of water. Place the cake in an oven preheated to 180⁰C and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out dry. Set aside for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. You can dust the cake with powdered sugar.
Leave to cool completely. Slice and serve!
