The Best Sweet Easter Bread
Traditional Easter sweet braid-shaped bread, filled with delicious almonds and apricot jam, no waiting for the dough to rise.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 500 g flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp finely ground almonds
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 150 ml sour cream
- 70 g sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla sugar or essence
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 50 ml whole milk
- 1 tbsp oil
FILLING
- 200 g ground almonds
- 90 g sugar
- 1-2 tsp orange blossom water
- 150 ml milk
- 2 tbsp rum
- 1 tbsp honey
- 150-200 g apricot jam
OTHER
- 1-2 tbsp coarsely ground almonds for sprinkling
- 1 egg yolk for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Make dough mixture: Beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla sugar or essence until foamy. Fold in the sour cream.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large bowl sift the flour and mix it with the baking powder, salt, grated lemon zest, and ground almonds.
- Mix: Add the beaten eggs and sour cream to the bowl with the flour and slowly mix while adding the milk and oil.
- Prepare Filling: Heat the milk with the sugar and honey over low heat. Stir in the walnuts and cook for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Add the rum and orange blossom water and mix.
- Prepare dough: Knead into a smooth dough. If the dough is sticky, feel free to add extra flour. Divide the dough into 3 equal parts. Roll out each part into a rectangular shape, approx 40cm long and 10-15cm wide.
- Add Filling: Spread each piece with apricot jam and the almond mixture. Then roll up each piece like a Swiss roll, lengthwise. Grease and flour a large baking tray and carefully transfer all three "roulades" to the tray. Make a simple braid.
- Baking: Brush the braid with the egg yolk. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, covered with foil. In the last 5, remove from the oven, spread some apricot jam in the middle of the braid, sprinkle with coarsely ground almonds, and return to the oven.
Notes
This sweet Easter bread yields has approx 5700 calories in total. From the ingredients listed, this recipe yields approximately 12 slices, each slice contains approximately 475 calories. Actual calorie content may vary slightly depending on factors such as ingredient brands, variations in measurements, and serving sizes. It's always a good idea to use these calorie estimates as a general guide, and if precise nutritional information is needed, consider consulting a registered dietitian or using a nutritional analysis tool.