Saffron Easter Cake

Ingredients

Flour 1000 g

Dry yeast 18 g

35% cream 250 ml

Brown sugar 200 g

Butter 50 g

Egg yolk 10

Imeretian saffron 1 tsp

Salt 1/2 tsp

Cardamom 1/2 tsp

White rum 100 g

Nuts 100 g

Candied fruit 100 g

Raisins

The use of saffron and egg yolks gives the crumb a sunny yellow color. The amount and composition of fillings (nuts, candied fruit, and dried fruit) can be varied to suit your taste.

A few hours before cooking, pour 50 ml of rum or vodka over the saffron, cover, and let sit. Pour brandy over the raisins and candied fruit and set aside. Make the dough. Heat 100 ml of water and add a third of the cream. Dissolve the yeast in the mixture. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and 150 g of flour, kneading until smooth. Leave in a warm place for about an hour.

Meanwhile, mix half of the remaining sugar with melted butter. Mix the other half with the egg yolks.

Add the egg yolks, butter, cardamom, remaining cream, salt, and saffron to the fermented dough, along with the alcohol. Stir. Gradually add the sifted flour and knead into a soft dough. Regarding the correct consistency, someone knowledgeable said that a good yeast dough should be soft like "a sleeping cat's belly." We'll follow this rule.

 Cover the dough with a towel and let it rise in a warm place (at room temperature, about two hours). The dough should rise at least twice as much. Punch it down, place it on a floured surface, add the nuts, candied fruit, and raisins, and knead thoroughly for about 10 minutes.

Grease the kulich pans with butter and sprinkle with flour. Place the dough in the pans; they should be about a third full.

Let them rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes, then place them in an oven preheated to 170 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) and bake for another 40-50 minutes. Do not open the oven door for the first half hour to prevent the kulich from falling. Cool the finished kulich and glaze them (optional).

Enjoy!