Kulich for Easter, Two Ways
Kulich (cool-ich) is an Easter bread that is scented and colored with saffron threads and topped with a sweet layer of icing. It is often made with St. Lucia Bun dough, but we took a favorite no-knead brioche dough from The New Artisan Bread in Five book and added a little saffron to it to make this version. If you scroll down, there’s also a recipe for ‘Cinnamon Roll Kulich’ – which is this same dough made with a cinnamon swirl center and baked in a popover pan to help keep its tall shape. Icing and sprinkles are also included, of course.
Kulich
2 pounds Brioche dough (page 300 of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, or the recipe here on the website), with 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads mixed into the wet ingredients
All-purpose flour, for dusting
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water), for brushing the dough
Icing
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cream (or more as needed for a thick but pourable consistency
To bake: Generously grease a panettone mold with butter (the mold I use in the photos is currently unavailable but it is a 6 x 6 inch panettone pan with a removable bottom. Many people also bake them in large, empty, parchment lined coffee cans to achieve the high domed loaf.) Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Place the ball in the greased panettone mold, seam-side down.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 90 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven. Brush the dough with egg wash. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow the bread to cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing: Mix the confectioner’s sugar and heavy cream together until smooth and thick enough to cling to the cake. You don’t want it to drip off the sides (like the very first photo shows) but if it does (like the one directly above) it will still taste good. Drizzle the icing over the cake and cover with colorful sprinkles.
Cinnamon Roll Kulich
1 1/2 pounds Brioche dough (page 300 of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, or the recipe here on the website), with 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads mixed into the wet ingredients
All-purpose flour for dusting
Filling
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Pinch salt
Icing
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons cream (or more as needed for a pourable consistency)
Grease a 12 cup (or two 6 cup) large popover pans. (If you don’t have popover pans, you can use a greased 9×13 inch baking pan.)
Roll the dough into 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Brush the entire surface with the melted butter. In a small bowl mix together the sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Spread the mixture over the butter topped dough. Use your hands to make sure you have an even coat of the sugar. Then roll the dough up, starting at the long end.
Use a Bread Knife, Kitchen Scissors or floss to cut the log into 12 equal pieces.
Loosely cover the buns and let them rest between 1 1/2 to 2 hours. The long rest will insure that you have a fluffy bun. (You can set these up the night before and let them rest overnight in the refrigerator. In the morning take them out and let them sit on the counter for about 45 minutes to an hour.) You may get away with slightly shorter rise, but the buns will not be quite as soft.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the rack in the middle of the oven.
Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes, just until the centers are set when poked with your finger (they should be caramel colored). Turn the buns out of the pan (if using the popover pans). Let them cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing: Mix the confectioners’ sugar and heavy cream together until smooth and thick enough to cling to the cinnamon rolls. Drizzle the icing over each roll and cover with colorful sprinkles.
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I really need to get back to baking bread.. I enjoy doing it but I’ve been so busy lately
Baking bread is a brand new adventure for me! I would to win your book!
Your posts have opened my tastebuds and culinary sensibilities to loving carbs again!
I dream of having all the books !!
Yum! That looks delicious!
Yum!!
This recipe looks wonderful!
I can’t wait to make this at home! ❤️
Love your recipes and your yeast !! Such an inspiration to bake !! Thank u
It looks so doable and delicious. Can’t wait to get started.
wooo quarantine has been the perfect time for me to begin my bread journey. Can’t wait to practice more recipes from you 🙂
These look amazing! Thank you for so many recipes and ideas! Your bread has allowed me to make so many amazing loaves for my family!
Can’t wait to bake!
Yummmm looks so good! I want to bake so many things during this time, but no yeast in the stores
i knead you to know how much I dough not want to ever lose baking as a hobby. Still, like a good yeasted bread, we shall rise from these weird times. All jokes aside, I love these cute bread buns! Excited to try the recipe and hopeful to win the giveaway. Thanks for the recipes!
Thank you. I have gotten so many friends and family members w/ kids to try your basic recipe…I’ve enjoyed making it for several years…mostly in a dutch oven and I LOVE adding cheese to it…I have two of your cookbooks and they look like they’ve been through a war….but it was my “baking bread routine”….have tried several of the recipes and those I’ve tried we love. I have a bucket of dough in the refrigerator now and my 93 year old mother asked me today if I’d please make a boule tomorrow! How can I say ‘no?’ Stay healthy and well.
Thanks for the give a way.
Excellent giveaway!! We’ve been baking a lot since the shutdown, and now can’t find yeast!!
I’ve made your basic recipe 3 times in the last 3 weeks. Just love it. Will be making the brioche recipe for Easter.
Carol b
Hey yall hey!! I can’t wait to pick out one of your books to get started on my new baking adventures!
Everything you make is beautiful. I’m still a little intimidated.
I am going to try this! My hubby always got bread like this at a bake sale before Easter. Now i can make it so he won’t miss it!
That bread looks amazing! I have to find a panettone mold (and some yeast lol) so I can give it a try! Thanks so much for all that you do to make baking less nerve wracking and more approachable for those of us who are still learning! Appreciate you so much!!
Beautiful! Can’t wait to do the cinnamon roll ones!
Beautiful! Can’t wait to do the cinnamon roll ones! Have been meaning to buy the book would be wonderful to win it!
I have been trying to stay away from baking because all I want to do eat it all but I think Easter is a food excuse to bake up a storm! It is my favorite Holiday because none of the other holidays would mean anything if Jesus didn’t come back to life after dying for our sins.
Oh, I very much need a restock of yeast! These are such gorgeous treats.
This recipe is next on my “to-bake” list! It looks so yummy!
I can’t wait to make this! (If only I could find some yeast!!! )
Love your cookbooks! I love your recipes! You’ve made me a bread maker!!
This recipe sounds delicious!
Baking bread has often been intimidating but your books have made it so easy to accomplish beautiful yummy breads at home. Thank you for all the hard work you’ve put into them. I treasure my copy!
Am new at baking bread, this book would really help me
Yum!
I can’t wait to bake for Easter during our lock down. More for my family to share!
I love your instagram Zoe! I never miss any of your post! Best information about bread!! And I love bread and planning to bake them since we are confined in our house.
Thank you for this giveaway! I hope I win
I’ve got the artisan bread in 5 but look forward to getting hands on the pizza and holiday ones at some point. I was intimidated by bread making but being able to bake my own bread with this method has been a joy! Thank you!
My son had made a version of this years ago when he was taking a Russian language class in college. Brings back some wonderful memories as he made like 4 of them from a recipe he translated from Russian to english and shared them with our family and close friends.
Thank you so much for the giveaway ! I love baking with your recipes.
I can’t wait to get back to baking bead, and hope to utilize more of your amazing recipes~
I hope to win the Book featuring Holidays and Celebrations!
Looks so amazing! Can’t wait to try out a new recipe!
My family has been getting back into baking, it is an amazing thing to pass it on to the little ones. Thank you for giving us ideas!
The Kulich made with your brioche dough is simply delicious!
Those Reese’s eggs are just too tasty to resist!
I was thinking about resuming my bread baking habit, but I couldn’t find wheat flour OR yeast at the store. The wheat bread that I bought is actually reasonably good, especially toasted, but nothing compares to a homemade loaf!
I keep a giant stock in the freezer. That way they last well and I can’t devour them quite as fast.
What a great giveaway! This looks just like Paska, which we always make for Easter. I’d be interested to try this one sometime!
Thank you very much for your books. I’m making a batch of dough weekly for pizza, and have been making experimental bread with the master recipe! Though we’re now dangerously low on yeast!
The cinnamon roll kulich look amazing!
Love the recipes!
Thanks for the great giveaway!!!
Love the idea of using a popover pan for the cinnamon rolls! I need to get your book
Really enjoy reading your emails & love your recipes!
I didn’t even know there was a pizza and flatbreads in 5 Book…I need that! And I might need to make this recipe as well to get in the spirit…
These look so yummy!
This looks amazing. Will need to try it.