This is a fail-safe recipe; it has come to me via a friend from Thessaloniki that her mother taught her and has been in their family for generations, this is a large quantity, if you want a smaller quantity halve the recipe.
Ingredients:
3 kilos plain flour
126 grams fresh yeast
1 1/4 kilos sugar
10-12 eggs
1 litre warm milk
1 soupspoon of salt
1 packet of mahlepi
1 packet masticha
1 teaspoon of cardamom powder
2 tablespoons of seed oil
125 grams of unsalted butter
Secrets:
1. Everything has to be warm.
2. The butter goes in at the end.
3. We don’t knead, we only fold until everything becomes one. This is important, as too much kneading makes the gluten more glutinous and will make the tsoureki hard.
Method:
1. Dissolve the yeast in a glass of warm water, adding a little of the flour until it has a runny dough consistency. Cover and put aside in a warm spot till it rises
2. In a large bowl put the sugar, salt, the spices, the seed oil.
3. Add the warm milk and mix.
4. Beat the eggs slightly in a separate bowl and add them to the mixture.
5. Add the yeast and mix everything, preferably by hand.
6. Add the flour gradually, folding gently by hand until you have soft dough.
7. Melt the butter and add while warm but not hot and fold in gently until all the butter is one with the dough.
8. The dough should be warm; put it aside to rise, covered well. I usually cover with a blanket as previous women in my family have done. Leave for at least an hour or when the dough had doubled its size.
9. Make the tsourekia into any shape that you wish and you might like to add a red egg.
10. Put the tsourekia aside to rest for 30 minutes, brush with an egg yolk that has been slightly diluted in warm water.
11. Bake for 20-30 minutes on a medium heat of 170°C – the time depends on the size.