Czech Easter Bread (Mazanec)
Traditional sweet Easter bread called Mazanec, made with dried fruit, almonds and cream. Usually baked for Easter and eaten for breakfast.
Ingredients
- 500 grams plain flour - cake (all purpose) flour 3 cups + 2 tablespoons
- 15 grams quick action yeast 2 sachets or 3 teaspoons
- 250 ml single or double (heavy) cream or milk - 1 cup
- 3-4 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon fine salt or less if you like
- 120 grams unsalted butter melted 1/2 cup
- 120 grams caster sugar 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or rum extract (or real rum)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mace or ground nutmeg (optional)
- lemon zest from 1 whole lemon
- 40 grams almond flakes (or whole almonds) 1/4 cup plus extra almond flakes for topping
- 50-100 grams mixed dried fruit (orange, lemon peel, seedless raisins etc) or just raisins 1/4 cup -1/2 cup
Instructions
- Measure and add most of the dry ingredients together – flour, yeast, sugar, salt, lemon zest, ground mace (at this stage leave out the dry fruits and almonds).
- In a separate bowl add the cream, egg yolks, vanilla extract (or rum extract or rum) and melted butter (make sure it's not hot only warm).
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spatula.
- Take out the dough mixture from the bowl and place on the work and start kneading (or use a mixer with a kneading hook if you want). Knead for about 10-15 minutes until the dough becomes elastic and smooth. The dough might be sticky, but try to avoid adding any more flour if you can. The dough could also feel oily, but that’s exactly how it should be.
- When you finished the kneading the dough will feel less sticky, smooth and elastic.
- Leave the dough to rise in a bowl, covered by a plastic bag or damp tea towel. Leave it to double in size – this can take up to 1-3 hrs depending on how cold your kitchen is.
- When the dough is ready either keep it whole for one large loaf or cut it in half to get two smaller loaves (which is what I do).
- Deflate the dough and add half of the dry fruits and almonds to each part of the dough. I add them in when I'm shaping the dough, but you can also knead them in. If you think that they look a bit sparse, add more, but don't overdo it otherwise the sweet bread won't rise as much as it should in the next stage.
- Shape the dough into two smaller rounds and leave to prove again either upside down in a lined bowl or if you are good with your shaping (as in know how to shape your dough tightly) leave it on a baking tray (the right way up) loosely covered with a oiled plastic or upside down plastic bowl.
- Leave the ‘Mazanec’ sweet bread to double in size again. This can easily take further 1-2 hours, but don’t try to rush it by putting the sweet dough into too warm place. The cream, butter, eggs, sugar and everything else beyond the flour, water and yeast is ‘weighting’ the dough down and because of that it can take a very long time for the dough to start rising.
- When the dough has doubled in size, gently brush with egg white, add some extra flaked or chopped almonds on the top
- Bake in preheated oven on a fairly low temperatue of about 160C - 180C (electric fan assisted oven) or 320 Fahrenheit to 350 F. Lower the temperature further if the dough looks like it’s browning too quickly at the beginning.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, but check after about 30 minutes with a wooden skewer. If it comes out dry – the mazanec sweet bread is ready.
- Leave the mazanec to cool down on a cooling rack before cutting and serving on it's own or with an unsalted butter (and perhaps a jam).