Kulich (Easter cake) is an integral part of the festive Easter table. Kulich with curd paskha (cheese dessert mixed with sugar, butter, and raisins) and colored Easter eggs are consecrated in church on Maundy Thursday on the eve of the festival. Kulich is traditionally made in the form of a cylinder of dough, often with raisins, decorated on top with powdered sugar or glaze. Vanilla, cardamom, and nutmeg can be added to spice it up.
Mascarpone cheese 500 g Almonds 30g Caster sugar 450g Flour 150 g Cognac 50 ml Chocolate 1.5 slabs 3 eggs 1 lemon |
Today, we’ll take a look at a more secular version of kulich, which can always be baked after Easter as a dessert. Here is how we made it:
1) Take the mascarpone, then add vanilla sugar and cognac.
2) Now whisk the eggs with the sugar, and mix it all together.
3) Add small amounts of flour and baking powder.
4) Take a pinch of lemon zest - put in the dough
5) Grate some chocolate with a coarse grater - put it in the dough as well
6) Grease the baking cup with butter and place it in the oven for half an hour at 180 degrees.
7) When the kulich is ready, let’s prepare the glaze. Take a lemon and squeeze the juice into the powdered sugar.
Besides jams, figs, and pastila, Russia’s main national confectionery products are treacle cake (or gingerbread) and kulich. There are many different varieties. Both treacle cake and kulich are typically made of compact dough, with lots of flavored and aromatic additives (nuts, honey, raisins, candied fruits, jams) and various spices. However, treacle cake appeared in ancient times as a kind of bread and was — and still is — cheap and easy to make, whereas kulich came from Byzantium and has always been considered a ceremonial, expensive, and labor-intensive confectionery.
Learn more about Russian cuisine from our video podcast Delicious Russia!
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