Paskha, Kulich, colored eggs are the traditional meals for Easter table.
Kulich (Russian Easter cake)
Kulich is a traditional Russian cake made from yeast dough and cooked for the Easter day.
It has a shape of cylinder, usually contains flavour additives (raisins, candied fruit, candied
lemon peel or dried orange) and can be coloured with saffron. The top of kulich is decorated with icing or confectioners' sugar.
Kulich is blessed in church along with colored eggs and is the first meal to break the fast.
A sample recipe:
Ingredients:
1 kg flour
1 1/2 cup of milk
6 eggs
300 g butter
40-50 g yeast
3/4 tsp salt
150 g raisins
50 almonds
2 tsp vanilla sugar
Preparation:
Soak raisins in water at least for 2 hours.
Solve yeast in 1 1/2 cup of warm milk, add half of necessary flour, mix well and put into warm place for the dough to take a rise.
When dough increases in volume in twice add salt and yolks mixed with sugar vanilla and butter.
Add beaten up white of eggs and flour. Mix it well. Dough should be not too thick but well mixed.
Put the dough into warm place again.
When dough increases in volume in twice add raisins and chopped almond. Mix well.
Put dough into baking pans. (around ? of a pan)
Pans should have bottom covered with oiled paper circle and inner sides wet with oil and sprinkled with flower.
Leave the filled pans in a warm place. When dough increases in volume at 3/4 of pan's volume grease
it with beaten yolk and put into the pre-heat oven F. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
Let kulich cool. Decorate its top side with icing.
Apart from pryaniki and kulichi, Russian culinary includes various kovrizhki (a big pryanik, usually consisting of two
parts, one covering another), sweet pies, ledenets (sugar candy), candied fruit, various varenie (confiture).
Cane sugar was introduced in Russian in the17th century, which also boosted the appearance of various slasti and zaedki
(sweet things)
Paskha
Ingredients:
500 g high fat content soft tvorog (farmer's cheese, cottage cheese)
2 egg yolks
200 g sugar
4 tsp vanilla sugar
200 g butter
100 g cream
Strain the tvorog for several hrs to get rid of the extra liquid.
Mix melted and cooled butter with sugar finely until white. Add egg yolks gradually into the mixture while mixing.
Add drained tvorog, cream and vanilla sugar and beat the mixture with an electric mixer to make it very fluffy and smooth.
Add washed and dried raisins and chopped almonds.
Nuts, raisins, candied fruit and species (lemon peel) could be added optionally.
Pour the mass into the baking Easter form .Cover the bottom of the form with wet cloth.
Cover with a plate and put a weight on the top. The extra liquid has to be absorbed by the cloth making the dessert firme and even-shaped.
Keep in the fridge for 12-24 hours.
Traditional paskha has to have a shape of truncated pyramid that symbolises a the Tomb of Christ.
Russian national meals recipes
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LINKS
Authentic Russian Recipes, Cuisine and Cooking
Russian cuisine and Russian cooking recipes
A detailed description of Russian food and meals on Wikipedia
Traditional Russian meals and recipes
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