Yiayia's Bread - As documented by Rae

Thankfully Rae had the idea to write down Yiayia's bread recipe. And while none of us will ever be able to recreate her bread without an outdoor wood-burning oven, it is still an amazingly delicious bread. Mom re-ran this recipe in the last newsletter and we decided to make it for Easter. Cathy even had a packet of yeast she'd purchased in Greece last year, so it was extra authentic! Soooooo good warm with butter.

Ingredients

• 1 quart milk
• Approx. 5-1/2 lbs flour
  
• 4 eggs - slightly beaten
• 5-6 heaping tablespoons sugar
• 2 cubes butter
• 2 pkgs dry yeast
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 cup warm water
• Flavorings: Whole corriander, anise & cumin seeds, "crushed" lightly to bring out the flavor
  

Directions
Heat the milk. Add butter and let melt.

Start yeast in the warm water with 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix milk, sugar, salt and flavorings. Add half the flour and work with your hads until partly mixed and then add the eggs. Continue to work a little more, then add the yeast mixture. Keep adding flour until the dough is smooth and easy to handle.

Rub olive oil over the top, and make the sign of the cross (a MUST!). Cover and let rise until double in size.

Preheat oven to 350-375 degrees.

Knead for 5 minutes or so. Set aside and prepare pans. Grease bottoms of the pans only.

Knead dough again and shape loaves to fill the pans about 1/3 full. Set aside until bread in pans doubles in size, or pans look full.

Brush with beaten egg. Bake at least 45 minutes.

κόκκινες χιονιές (red snowballs)

This was a Ruby invention (and name, translated to Greek). I found a basic sweet-roll dough recipe in a Fannie Farmer Baking Book and she filled them with Greek sour cherry preserves.

2 pkgs dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup milk, warmed
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, softened
3 eggs*
5-1/4 to 5-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

*Note: If eggs are refrigerator cold, pour hot water over them and let stand for several minutes to warm before cracking.

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a small cup or bowl, stir and let stand for a minute or two to dissolve. (I add about 1 tbsp of the sugar to the water as well — a trick Mom told me that Rae told her.) Combine the milk, sugar, salt, butter, and eggs in a large mixing bowl, and beat well. Stir in the dissolved yeast. Add 2-1/2 cups of the flour, and beat until smooth and well blended. Add 2-1/2 cups more flour and beat until the dough holds together in a rough, shaggy mass. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a minute or two. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Resume kneading for 8 to 10 minutes more, gradually sprinkling on a little more flour if the dough sticks to your hands, until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Punch the risen dough down, and it is ready to be formed and baked. You can also freeze the dough or store in the refrigerator for a few days in a tightly covered container. We ran out of time, so stored it in the fridge over night.

Melt a couple of tbsps of butter in the bottom of a 9 x 12 cake pan. Break dough into 24 mandarin-sized balls and roll into a flat circle. Spoon about 1 tbsp (we made sure there was one cherry plus some goo) into the center of dough, dab water around edges and pinch up sides. Rub roll (pinched side up) in butter at bottom of pan, then turn over and push to edge. Repeat with all rolls, so that they are touching each other and the sides of pan. Cover, and let rise about an hour and bake for 15 minutes at 375°.