Easter Bread
A delicious and festive sweet yeast bread to serve on Easter day. The dough is twisted into a ring shape and then topped with a mixture of almonds, sugar and rum before baking. Serve either plain, or lightly drizzled with a sweet lemon icing.
Recipe type: Dessert | Yeast Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Recipe Notes
Pan: Two Large Baking Sheets Pan Prep: Greased Oven Temp: 350° Yield: 2 Rings Storage: Covered, Room Temperature
TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast,
accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.
TheBakingPan Recommends: The BEST instant read thermometer I’ve used for cooking and baking; the ThermoWorks Splash-Proof Super-Fast Thermapen Thermometer is incredibly fast,
accurate, and well worth the investment. I use my Thermapen Thermometer for checking room temperature ingredients, tempering chocolate, baking bread, making pastry creams, sugar syrup, caramel, and candy, cooking meats and fish, and deep frying. Thermapen Thermometer available here.Ingredients
Dough:
- ½ cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
- ½ cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees) (preferably whole milk)
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4½ to 5 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for work surface
Topping:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon water
- ½ cup slivered almonds
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons rum
Lemon Icing (optional):
- 1 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 to 4 teaspoons milk (preferably whole milk)
Instructions
Dough:
- In a large mixing bowl combine warm water, warm milk and yeast; stir and let sit until yeast is dissolved, about 10 minutes. Add sugar, eggs, lemon zest, melted butter, and salt; beat until mixture is smooth. Add 2 cups flour; stir until well mixed. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
- Turn dough onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes, adding additional flour 1 tablespoon at a time if dough is too sticky.
- Place dough in a well greased bowl; turn dough over once to grease the top. Cover bowl with a small kitchen towel and let dough rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.
- Prepare two large baking sheets; light grease with shortening.
- Punch dough down then turn onto a lightly floured pastry mat or pastry board; knead dough briefly, 4 to 5 times. Divide dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each part into a rope about 36 inches long.
- Place 2 ropes side by side; twist ropes together gently and loosely, and shape into a ring; pinch the ends to fasten together. Repeat with remaining 2 parts of dough.
Topping:
- In a small bowl, combine egg yolk and water, stir together to mix. Brush tops of rings with egg yolk. In a small bowl, combine almonds, sugar, and rum; spread mixture over rings.
- Cover rings and let rise is a warm place until doubled in size, 30 to 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Bake: Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until rings are a light golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from oven. Place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool.
Lemon Icing (optional):
- In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, and enough milk to make a good drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing onto still warm rings.