Chalka - Polish Easter Bread Recipe
By: Jennifer
Published: Tuesday, April 19, 2011 - 5:45pm

Ingredients




1 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
5 1/2 cups flour
1 cup raisins or dried chopped fruit
1 egg for glazing, beaten

Preparation

1 Bring milk to a simmer in a pot. Remove from heat and add butter, sugar and salt. Stir until melted. Set aside to cool (you don't want to add it hot or you'll kill the yeast). 2 Mix yeast with warm water until dissolved, then add milk mixture, eggs and vanilla to combine. Add 3 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add raisins and remaining flour. A sticky dough will form. Kneed for about 5 minutes, then set into a bowl. Rub with a little oil and cover with plastic. Set in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled. 3 Punch down the dough and divide in 2. You can braid it or form it into any shape you like. Set onto a parchment lined baking sheet and cover again with plastic wrap. Let rise for about 30 minutes. 4 Preheat oven to 350F. Brush tops of bread with beaten egg, then bake for 30 minutes. Cool on wire racks. 5 You can serve this for breakfast or an evening snack with butter and jam. And don't forget the coffee or tea. 6 Tip: You can colour your bread by dividing the beaten egg into smaller bowls, then using a few drops of food colouring. Paint your bread with the coloured egg before baking. 7 You can also use this recipe to make buns or smaller loaves. You could get 4 small loaves out of this recipe and give them as gifts when you go visiting your single friends or couples. People with kids will need a full size loaf. Believe me, my 3 year old at 1/4 of the loaf and I must have eaten 1/2 a loaf myself. Now I remember why I don't make bread regularly. 8 I heat my oven for 2 or 3 minutes on 200F just until it starts to get warm, not hot. Then I place my dough in the warm oven to rise. Close the door. If you have a big microwave, heat a glass of water for 1 minute then place your bowl of dough in the microwave with the hot glass of water and close the door.