Kulich

When I was little I hated panettone – all those crystallized fruits and raisins drove me nuts! My mom used to remove them all from the bread so I could eat it (mom was a saint, wasn’t she? :D). Years later the industry came up with the chocottone and that pretty much solved my problem. :)

Nowadays I love crystallized fruits and raisins and adore sweet breads studded with those ingredients. When I saw this kulich on Gourmet Traveller I couldn’t wait to make it, and it would be a good way to use the saffron I’d bought long ago and that was sadly sitting in my pantry – I tend to accumulate ingredients, I believe you’ve noticed that. :D
The saffron adds a nice yellowish tone to the dough, but I am sure the kulich would be wonderful without it anyway, so don’t let that stop you from making this great recipe.

Kulich
slightly adapted from the always gorgeous Gourmet Traveller

7g (1 sachet) dried yeast
½ tablespoon granulated sugar
140ml whole milk, lukewarm
½ cup (55g) golden raisins
2 tablespoons dark rum
pinch saffron threads
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
4 egg yolks, room temperature
360g all purpose flour
¾ cup (105g) icing sugar, sifted
50g almonds, coarsely chopped
50g candied orange peel, diced
1/8 teaspoon salt
100g unsalted butter, softened
1 egg, lightly beaten with a fork, for brushing
icing sugar, extra, for dusting

Combine yeast, sugar and 100ml of the milk in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve, then stand in a warm place until foamy (5-10 minutes).
Meanwhile, combine raisins and rum in a small saucepan over medium heat until rum starts to boil. Remove from the heat and set aside until raisins are plump (4-5 minutes), strain liquid into a bowl (reserve raisins), then add saffron, vanilla, yolks and remaining milk to rum, whisking to combine.
Combine flour, icing sugar, almonds, candied orange and salt in a large bowl, make a well in the centre, add yeast mixture, rum mixture and reserved raisins. Stir to combine, add butter and, mix with your hands to combine. Turn onto a well floured surface, knead until smooth, dusting with extra flour if dough is too sticky (5-6 minutes) – I did the whole thing using a stand mixer with the dough hook.
Place in a lightly buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place until doubled in size (1-1½ hours).
Divide dough into two, roll each piece into a 50cm-long cylinder. Twist two cylinders together, join ends to form a ring shape, place on a large baking sheet lined with baking paper. Cover with a tea towel and stand until risen (35-40 minutes).
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 120°C/250°F. Brush kulich with the beaten egg, bake for 15 minutes, increase oven to 180°C/350°F and bake until golden and an inserted skewer withdraws clean (25-30 minutes), then cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 8-10