Russian 101, Unit 2: Kulich

Russian Pasteries vary from pancakes to just regular cakes. However, there is one speacial cake that is offered every year on Easter Sunday known as Kulich. The Russians or families linage is from Russia sometimes say that this recipe was passed down by their great-grandmothers. The Kulich is a very tall, cylinder sweet cake that sometimes contain lots of almonds, raisins or fruits on the cake. The cake is usually sliced and is spread with a special sweet cheese known as paskha. The origins of the cake was to be said dated back when the Greek Orthodox Church forbid the comsumption of the 'forbidden ingredients' such as: eat meat, eggs, butter or other dairy products. Then, when Easter Sunday comes, the Church allows the people to eat the forbidden ingredients, making the cake famous for its large porportion of eggs and butter in the cakes ingredient.

Ingredients for Kulich

200 ml whole milk
25 g fresh yeast
450 - 500 g flour
200 ml sugar
4 egg yolks
3 - 4 egg whites
100 g almonds + some for garnishing
¼ tsp salt
150 g butter
(1 tsp vanilla sugar)
pinch of saffron threads
½ - 1 tbsp vodka