20 secrets of delicious Easter cakes

Not a single Easter table is complete without a festive Easter cake. Baking it is not so easy, so we are sharing with you the most necessary tips for making it.

SECRET 1

Baking Easter cakes is customary on the eve of Easter. Before you start cooking, get your kitchen and your thoughts in order. When making the dough, it is important to be in the right frame of mind: think about good things, don’t rush anywhere, don’t yell or quarrel.

SECRET 2

Yeast dough is weather dependent: it loves warmth and does not tolerate cold and drafts. Therefore, take care about a comfortable temperature in the kitchen and preheat the oven in advance.

SECRET 3

All products must be removed from the refrigerator in advance: when mixing, they must be at room temperature.

SECRET 4

The right yeast is half the success. To make Easter cakes, choose live yeast - wet, similar to a piece of plasticine.

With them, the dough will turn out soft, saturated with tiny air bubbles. Before placing the dough, make sure the yeast is fresh: it should just crumble and smell pleasantly like milk.

SECRET 5

Before kneading the dough, be sure to sift the flour: this is another rule for light, airy dough.

SECRET 6

To ensure that the dough rises perfectly, place the container with it in a bowl of warm (but not hot) water and cover with a clean towel.

SECRET 7

You need to knead the Easter cake dough with your hands. At the same time, it lasts quite a long time - until it easily lags behind the cutting table.

Add the insides and bake.

SECRET 8

To make the cakes have a beautiful golden color, use the freshest country eggs with an orange yolk and add a little turmeric to the dough.

To achieve the same effect, saffron tincture is also suitable: to 1 tsp. ground saffron, add 50 ml of vodka, cover and leave for a couple of hours.

SECRET 9

For flavor, you can add a little vanillin, nutmeg, cardamom seeds ground in a mortar or 2-3 tbsp to the dough. l. golden rum.

SECRET 10

In addition to raisins, you can add finely chopped dried apricots, citrus zest, any candied fruits or crushed nuts to the dough. Almonds and hazelnuts are ideal.

SECRET 11

Grease the cake pans with oil and line with baking paper. Place a cardboard circle on the bottom with a diameter slightly smaller than the mold itself: this will make the cake easier to get out after baking.

SECRET 12

Fill the molds 1/3 the size with dough and leave in a warm place until it doubles in size. There is no need to wait until the dough reaches the edges of the pan: it will rise again during the baking process.

SECRET 13

Insert a long wooden skewer into the center of each raw cake. This will help it rise evenly and help you figure out if it's time to turn off the oven. If the cake is ready, then the skewer removed from it will be dry and clean.

SECRET 14

Place a bowl of water in the lower part of the oven to ensure the most tender cakes. Do not open the oven door during baking: the dough may fall off and not rise again.

SECRET 15

If the skewer is still raw and the cakes on top are starting to burn, cover them with greased foil.

SECRET 16

To prevent the glaze from cracking, decorate the cooled cakes with it.

SECRET 17

For a slight sour taste, a little lemon juice can be added to the traditional snow-white glaze of egg whites and sweet powder.

SECRET 18

Easter cakes with traditional snow-white hats can be decorated with patterns of melted chocolate. To get multi-colored Easter cakes, you can pour a couple of tablespoons of beetroot, carrot juice or juice squeezed from parsley into the snow-white glaze.

SECRET 19

Instead of the obvious colored sugar and ready-made sprinkles from the store, use multi-colored candied fruits, marzipan figures, or even fresh flowers to decorate the cakes.

SECRET 20

Cool the finished Easter cakes completely at room temperature and carefully wrap them in baking paper - this way they will remain in the best possible shape until Easter.

The secret of a perfect cake

Coloring eggs or preparing delicious Easter cottage cheese is not so difficult, but making tasty, fragrant, airy and successful Easter cakes in everything is the truest art! For Easter cakes to always turn out great, the most important thing is to choose the “correct”, good and high-quality flour! So what is the secret of perfect Easter cakes, and what should you pay special attention to when making them?

Secrets of making perfect Easter cake
Preparing the ingredients. In order for the cakes to always come out perfect, all the ingredients for making them should be prepared in advance: remove the milk and eggs from the refrigerator and let them warm to room temperature, soften the butter well, soak the raisins, and finely chop the nuts. All products must be at room temperature, and all utensils needed for making Easter cakes must be thoroughly washed and wiped dry in advance.

Flour. Before you start kneading the dough for Easter cakes, you must sift the flour - this approach not only helps to saturate it with oxygen, but also to free it from all foreign impurities. The dough based on sifted flour comes out the softest and airiest, without lumps, it rises much better, and it will bake even more evenly. So don’t be lazy – be sure to sift the flour! And in the standard, flour for Easter cakes is sifted twice!

Yeast. As for yeast, as a standard it should be natural, not dry, or, if the choice nevertheless fell on dry yeast, it should be of a proven brand and of the highest quality, because dough kneaded with the introduction of dry yeast of unknown properties will It’s even more terrible to approach, and the finished cakes will become stale much faster. In general, stale natural yeast can also lead to very disastrous results, and this fact should also not be discounted under any circumstances! Usually, on average, from 30 to fifty grams of natural yeast are taken for any kilogram of flour, but in this case, if the recipe calls for the introduction of an impressive amount of eggs and dried fruits, the size of the yeast is increased by about a third.

Read also: Pies with liver and potatoes

Opara. It is strictly not recommended to add salt to the dough - it “kills” the fermentation process, and the dough may ultimately not rise at all. You should not add vegetable oil to it either - a fatty film will entwine the yeast, and they will not be able to nourish themselves properly. A good and correctly prepared dough must initially rise properly, and then begin to fall evenly - it is at this moment that it must be added to the dough!

Dough. The sponge dough for making Easter cakes must be thoroughly kneaded - usually it is kneaded by hand for twenty to thirty minutes, trying to make movements in a clockwise direction. With all this, it is important to try not to interrupt and not change the direction of movement. By the way, in Rus' housewives kneaded the dough up to 100 times! Finding its readiness will not be difficult even for novice cooks - a perfectly kneaded dough will not stick to your hands or to the walls of the dishes. And another important aspect is that it is best to knead the dough in a plastic or glass container, because in an iron container (and in duralumin in particular) it may not rise!

Spices. Any housewife wants her cakes to turn out not only very tasty and beautiful, but also fragrant, and therefore some of them go too far with spices. This is definitely not worth doing: there should be only a small amount of spices in the Easter cake dough, because their main task is to highlight the taste of the finished baked goods, and under no circumstances overpower it. Therefore, vanilla, nutmeg, cardamom, ground cloves, cinnamon, and any other spices should be added in reasonable quantities!

Smell and color. You can add pleasant citrus notes to the cakes by adding a small amount of orange or lemon zest, and to give the dough an excellent golden color, it is recommended to add a teaspoon of turmeric or ground saffron. If you want your cakes to have a rich chocolate color, you can safely use cocoa.

Temperature conditions. When making dough for Easter cakes, it is very important to try to maintain a constant temperature in the room, because drafts and sudden temperature changes can simply negate all previously made efforts. As a standard, the dough should rise at room temperature indoors. Some housewives, in order to speed up the process of rising the dough, place it in a slightly heated oven or use other options for heating it - this is literally not worth doing!

Baking. The oven for baking Easter cakes is preheated to the desired temperature in advance, and when the dough is inside, it is important to try to open the oven as little as possible. If the baked goods are already covered with a golden brown crust, but the dough is not yet fully baked, you can put a small circle cut out of special baking paper on top of any Easter cake - this will protect them from burning.

How to cool the cake. But this, by the way, is a whole science! And this will take quite a decent amount of time, which in turn is justified by the fairly high density of the dough. Hot, freshly baked Easter cakes are wrapped in towels and laid on their sides, and so that they cool moderately, from time to time they are rolled onto the other sides. And even if the cakes have already cooled down on the outside, you need to wait until they are completely cooled down on the inside, and only later can you unwrap them! From time to time, it may take up to three to four hours for them to completely cool, but in any case, you should not rush into action - only properly cooled Easter cakes will remain fresh for a long time and not go stale for a week or even more!

Not bad flour is the key to success!
In order to get perfect dough for Easter cakes, and so that it is always fluffy and tasty, you should use only the best, high-quality flour to make it. It is equally important to learn and store it correctly - so that bugs do not appear in the flour during storage, it is best to pour it into hermetically sealed containers made of glass, tin or plastic. You can put a small clove of garlic on the bottom of each container, and also place a dried bay leaf between the jars - it perfectly repels all living creatures. Store flour only in unstained containers, in black and, obviously, in a dry place - if you store it in rooms with high humidity, it can quickly deteriorate, begin to clump and even become moldy, so there is no need to risk it.

Can’t decide what kind of flour to buy? Pay your attention to the highest grade flour TM “White-Nezhnaya” and the extra grade flour TM “French Little Thing” - both options are perfect for baking Easter cakes and for “trying out” any other homemade baked goods!

The main difference between TM “White-Tender” flour and traditional premium flour is that it has the highest whiteness characteristics, which in turn makes it an indispensable assistant in the production of any kind of celebratory baked goods: Easter cakes, muffins, pastries, pies, etc. etc. And this unique flour is obtained only by means of competent management of the varietal traits of grain - in its composition you will not find any various correctors or improvers! Only carefully selected grains and only natural ingredients!

The flour of the TM “French Thing” deserves no less attention - this premium-class flour will be a true find even for the most demanding housewives who want to pamper their loved ones with only the best and most delicious home-baked goods. By the way, even the world-famous manufacturer of bread machines, like Panasonic, recommends using this flour! Natural ingredients and leading production technologies do not cause the slightest fluctuation in the high quality of TM “French Thing” flour, therefore, having tasted such flour once, you will definitely want to be friends with it forever!

Easter Easter cake: secrets of making

No matter how delicious the cottage cheese Easter turned out to be, the main dish on Easter Sunday always remained Easter cake. Rich and fluffy, topped with glaze, with candied fruits, nuts, and raisins. What should real Easter bread be like?

According to historians, the Russian word kulich goes back to the Greek kollikion - “ bread of a round or oval shape .” Although a real Easter cake should not only be round, but also tall, because in the spring everything in nature comes to life and stretches upward.

Making a beautiful and delicious Easter cake is a labor-intensive task. The main ingredients are premium wheat flour, butter, milk, eggs, sugar, yeast and salt. Additives may vary, but to one degree or another they must always be in the cake. This also applies to spices - cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, lemon zest, saffron, which serves as both a spice and a yellowish dye . True, the smell of one spice should predominate in Easter cakes, so that nothing drowns out the special taste of the Easter cake itself.

Savory Easter cake: secrets

The sponge dough for Easter cakes must be risen at least 3 times. At each stage, some new component is introduced, and these intervals give the dough the opportunity to mature evenly. The finished dough is very capricious. It is necessary to strictly observe the temperature regime, avoid drafts and all temperature changes. You can place the dough to rise in a tightly closed oven.

Naturally, the yeast - preferably the freshest, not dry from a bag - must be of the best quality, the flour must be of the highest grade, dry and sifted, the sugar must be small and refined, and the oven must be moderately hot (the best temperature is 180 ° C). A lot of eggs are added to the dough, but it should not turn out either watery (then the cakes will spread out and be flat) or very thick (they will turn out “languorous” and quickly become stale). An impeccable mixture is when the dough can be cut, but at the same time it does not reach for the knife. Knead the dough as long as possible until it completely lags behind your hands and the table.

To ensure that the cake rises evenly, stick a wooden skewer (soaked in water in advance) into the middle and place the cake in the oven. After 1-1.5 hours, the skewer must be pulled out: if the dough sticks to it, it means the cake is still raw. The entire baking time depends on the size and can range from 1 to 1.5–2 hours.

The finished Easter cake is covered with glaze, sprinkled with nuts and/or candied fruits. By the way, they cut it not lengthwise, but across it, save the top and cover the remaining part with it so that it does not dry out.

By tradition, Easter cake dough must be yellow. This is achieved using various methods, but a huge amount of saffron can ruin the taste of the Easter cake (well, the cost of saffron is steep), turmeric is completely out of our league... Before adding eggs to the dough, you can separate the yolks from the whites, salt the yolks slightly and throw in a bowl for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator. Just cover the bowl with cling film. Over time, the yolks will turn bright yellow. They need to be combined later, first with the proteins, and then with the dough, and the cake will eventually turn a pleasant yellow color.

The tradition of celebrating Easter came from the Jews, who associated this holiday with the ending of Egyptian slavery. And the first Passover baked product was matzo - thin dry flatbread made from wheat flour. With the advent of Christianity, traditions changed, Easter began to symbolize the victory of Christ over death. And the Old Testament unleavened cakes on the festive table were replaced by leavened (yeast) bread, because Christ in one of the parables compared the Kingdom of God with leaven - yeast and, according to the Greek text of the Gospel, during the Secret Supper he blessed leavened bread specifically.

How to make perfect Easter cakes: secrets of Easter baking

On Immaculate Thursday, housewives in all corners of Ukraine began baking Easter treats and coloring eggs. This is what tradition prescribed, although now ceremonial dishes are often prepared on Saturday and Friday, after work. The Orthodox Church has nothing against such a violation of traditions; the main thing is that preparations for the ceremonial meal take place in a good mood and with positive ideas.

Selecting and preparing ingredients

There is a sign: if the housewife managed to bake a delicious Easter cake, fluffy, airy and tasty, the whole year will be just as light and generous for her family and loved ones. Therefore, the housewives tried their best and chose only the best ingredients for baking.

Modern masters of the highest cuisine also advise that when preparing any dish, especially if it is baked goods, pay special attention to the selection of ingredients and their preparatory preparation and processing. After all, no matter how professional a cook is, if he allows into his kitchen products that are not fresh, bad, or simply incorrectly selected, all his skill and efforts will be reduced to zero.

For Easter cake, only good and dry flour of the highest quality is suitable. If there is even the slightest doubt about its quality, it is better to purchase new flour. Do not forget that before using it you need to sift it well - this way the dough will be the most airy.

It is best to use crushed or refined sugar, which contains fewer impurities.

Importantly: an hour before kneading the dough, be sure to remove all the ingredients from the refrigerator, then they will mix easier and the dough will be more fluffy.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of yeast. To make Easter baked goods, it is recommended to choose live yeast. With them, the dough will turn out soft, saturated with tiny air bubbles. Before placing the dough, make sure the yeast is fresh: the mixture resembles plasticine, but at the same time it should just crumble and smell pleasant. It is better not to use dry yeast - there is really less hassle with it, and the dough will become stale faster.

Add some flair

You can add dried fruits, candied fruits, spices to the Easter dough - their quantity and composition is limited only by your tastes and imagination. Don't be afraid to add your own ideas to classic recipes and find your own personal cooking style. In all this, it is important to keep in mind that the more additives there are in the updated recipe, the more yeast must be added to the dough.

Usually raisins are put in Easter cakes. The idea is not bad at all and perfectly complements the taste of Easter baked goods. But it’s important to cook the raisins correctly before adding them to the dough, otherwise the baked goods may not rise. First of all, it must be carefully washed and dried, and then “powdered” with flour - this will ensure its even distribution over the dough.

Baking with the addition of candied lemon zest, which mixes well with raisins, also turns out delicious. But experienced housewives advise against adding nuts, because they may make the dough less fluffy.

Vanilla, saffron, cinnamon or cloves will add taste and smell. Just don’t, in pursuit of originality, use all the spices at once - stop at just one, and if you don’t understand what to choose, you can divide the dough into several portions and add various spices to it later.

Manufacturing secrets and fundamental aspects

Easter dough loves the warmth of your hands, and kneading it using modern kitchen appliances is a gross violation of traditions and recipes. Anyone, even the world's most advanced chef, will confirm that dough kneaded with your own hands always comes out the most delicious.

Start making the dough always in a good mood, and having rested before this, because you will have to mix for quite a long time - until it easily lags behind the cutting table.

Be sure to add salt to the dough for Easter baking - this will highlight the sweet and spicy taste of the Easter cake.

The correct choice of baking molds is very important. Most housewives prefer to bake Easter cakes of various sizes - small and medium ones for gifts, huge ones - for home breakfasts and visits, but it’s worth considering that small ones dry out faster, and huge ones take longer to bake, and you need to carefully ensure that the middle of the dough It didn't turn out to be raw.

To make the cake come out fluffy and “light”, fill the mold only a third of the way. If you put one half of the dough in the pan, you will get the densest cake.

After filling the molds, leave them in a warm place until its size approximately doubles; you should not wait for the dough to rise to the edges, as some young housewives incorrectly do, because during baking it must rise again .

It is not allowed to place the dough next to an open window or on the floor. Easter dough does not withstand temperature changes and drafts.

It is important that the dough does not stick to the container, otherwise the shape of the cake will be hopelessly damaged. To do this, place a piece of foil on the bottom, and to prevent Easter from burning on top, cover it with greased paper.

It is very important that before you put the dough in the oven, you need to warm it up, otherwise baking may not work out.

There is also one secret to a perfect cake - stick a long wooden skewer into the center of every raw cake. This is necessary so that the dough rises moderately, and it will be easier for you to monitor how it is baked. When the cake is ready, the skewer removed from it will be dry and clean. Otherwise, you need to continue baking. It is better to check the baked goods in advance, but you should not open the oven often, because this will affect the quality of the dough.

Before removing the Easter cakes and storing them until the solemn consecration in the church, they must be cooled well. This requires at least 3 hours, even better - about 5, to be sure that the dough inside has also reached room temperature. Do not neglect this advice, because otherwise the cake may simply become moldy.

After the cake has cooled, experienced housewives allow it to dry slightly, which increases its shelf life significantly. To do this, cover the baked goods with a towel for the day. Please also note that the glaze made from egg whites, which is used to cover the top of the cakes, can only be spread on completely cooled and better dried cakes, otherwise it will crack.