A rich, sweet brioche-like bread braided with care, flavored with vanilla, lemon zest, and rum-soaked raisins. Bulgaria's beloved Easter bread, golden and impossibly soft.
Ingredients
500g strong bread flour
100g sugar
7g dry yeast
200ml warm milk
3 eggs
80g unsalted butter, softened
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g raisins, soaked in rum
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk for glaze
Instructions
1Dissolve yeast in warm milk with a pinch of sugar. Let it foam for 10 minutes to confirm the yeast is active.
2In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add the yeast mixture, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Knead for 15 minutes until smooth and elastic.
3Gradually work in softened butter, kneading until the dough is silky, supple, and pulls away cleanly from the bowl. This takes patience.
4Fold in drained rum-soaked raisins. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for 1.5-2 hours until doubled in size.
5Divide dough into three equal pieces, roll each into a long rope, and braid them together. Place in a buttered loaf pan or shape into a round on a baking sheet.
6Let the braided loaf rise for another 45 minutes. Brush with egg yolk wash and bake at 170C for 35-40 minutes until deeply golden. The bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
Did You Know?
Bulgarian families compete fiercely over whose kozunak is softest, and the ideal kozunak should be so tender that it can be pulled apart in cotton-like strands.