Holiday Breads…Challah/Penia/Tsoureki

Last week was full of all different types of ethnic cuisine, more specifically some
very good holiday breads. The Jewish have their challah, the Italians have their penia, and us Greeks have our tsoureki. (the French also have their brioche which are very similar to the Italian penia and the greek tsoureki which are highly enriched
with milk and butter, but I'm not sure if this is their traditional Easter bread)
Challah is traditionally served during passover and usually consists of a large number of eggs, all purpose flour, water, yeast and sugar. There are variations to the basic challah where whole wheat or spelt are substituted for the All purpose flour and where molasses or honey are substituted for the sugar. The main difference between the other holiday breads that I've mentioned is that challah is not traditionally made with any milk or butter (parve).

Penia is an Italian Easter bread similar to a brioche with addition of lemon zest, juice and anise. Traditionally brushed with egg then topped with sprinkles.


Tsoureki is the bread that I'm most familiar with. My mother makes it every Easter and she stays pretty true with the traditional recipe, which consists of eggs, milk, yeast, sugar, mahlepi (is an aromatic spice made from the seeds of the St Lucie Cherry), orange zest and mastic which is an aromatic resin obtained from the mastic tree, also used to make chewing gum. The loaves are then brushed with an egg wash and topped with seeds, most commonly sesame.

Well, I made my own version so call it what you will.

-1 1/2 cups WATER (warm)
-1/2 cup MILK
-4 EGGS lightly beaten
-3/4 cup of HONEY (warm)
-1/2 cup BUTTER (melted, but not too hot)
-1 1/2 tbsp YEAST
-1 tbsp ORANGE ZEST
-7+ cups of AP FLOUR
-1 1/2 tbsp SALT

So I grabbed my mixer bowl and threw in all the above ingredients except for the salt and flour. I mixed everything well and made sure that the honey didn't settle at the bottom of the bowl. Next I threw in the flour and salt, I never let the yeast come in direct contact with the salt that is why I always add it mixed in with the flour. I allowed the mixer to do it's thing for the next 5 minutes and then kneaded with my hands for another 5 minutes.

After rising for about 2 hours I punched down the dough to release all of the air bubbles and put aside to rise again. A second rise allows the dough to become much lighter in weight and texture.

Now it's time for the rolling and braiding of the dough. I ripped off 3 grapefruit size pieces of dough and rolled them out so each rope was about an inch and a half thick and about ten inches long. Next I lined up the ropes of dough vertically and made a simple braid. This part I have to give credit to my fiancé for cause I've never braided anything In my life. This recipe is good for about 4 good sized loaves so I placed the finished loaf on a buttered baking sheet and continued working on the next three loaves.

Once finished I covered them loosely with a dry towel and let them rise again for another hour. Finally, I placed the trays in my 300 degree heated oven and cooked for about 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

I hope you give this recipe a try, you'll be very satisfied with the end result even though it is a little time consuming.