Easter cake "Odessa" + bonus

Category: Easter

Ingredients
Flour	3 Kg
Sugar	1 kg
Butter (or margarine)	0.8KG
Live yeast	120 g
Milk	1.5 liters
Egg yolks (homemade)	20 pcs
Raisins	300 g
Lemon zest	1 PC
Vanilla sugar	3 sachets
Cognac	50 ml

Cooking method

I start preparing cakes for baking in advance, at least a week in advance - I gradually buy the necessary products so that nothing distracts from the process during the day. Moreover, right on the eve of the holiday, anything can happen - either the good flour in the store is over, or you cannot find home eggs.
So, let's get started: first, I put the dough (if the yeast is live) - I dilute the yeast in a glass of warmed milk, sprinkle it with a few tablespoons of flour and wait half an hour for the tremors to come up. If the yeast is dry, I add it directly to the flour. In the meantime, I sift the flour (required!) Into a large bowl, melt the butter (or margarine).
I very carefully separate the whites from the yolks (we will need the whites for the bonus treat). I set aside one protein separately - for the glaze. Beat the yolks with sugar.
Do not be alarmed if the mass is lumps - pour in warm milk, the sugar will melt.
I pour in cognac, pour in vanilla sugar, rub the zest.
How is our dough? Just what you need! I add to the egg-milk smear. I make a depression in the flour - a crater, slowly, kneading, pour in the liquid phase. Now the most important thing begins - the batch.
It is necessary to knead for a long time and thoroughly, gradually pouring in the cooled oil and adding raisins.
The approximate time is 40 minutes with a mixer and more than an hour with my hands (the first time I kneaded for an hour and a half, I didn't have a mixer yet))) The readiness of the dough is determined by three rules:
1 - the dough does not stick to hands (at all - does not stick at all!),
2 - the dough “beeps” (air bubbles burst with a characteristic squeak),
3 - raisins "shoot" out of the dough.
Well, the dough is ready, cover it with a towel and put it in a warm place without drafts (in a cold oven, for example).
After an hour, the dough doubles in volume, you can continue.
I grease the fry for baking with vegetable oil, spread the dough on one third of the mold. I leave the dough to come up, heat the oven to 200 degrees.
A few tips: if you bake in thin-walled forms such as pineapple cans, then put a parchment circle on the bottom, and sprinkle the walls with semolina. Then the finished cakes will come out of the molds without any problems and the bottom will not burn.
I bake for about 45 minutes. Readiness as usual - with a toothpick or wooden skewer. I cool the finished cakes on the side, periodically turning them over.
I smear the cooled cakes with icing and decorate with sprinkling.
From this amount of ingredients, 15-16 Easter cakes are obtained.
For the glaze, I take the very same protein and beat it thoroughly with a glass of powdered sugar and a pinch of citric acid. A great hat guaranteed!
By the way, if during the baking process the top of the paste is cracked, it is easily covered with such glaze.
And now a bonus - pack! "Bird's milk"
Egg whites - 4 pcs.,
Sugar - 1 glass
Gelatin - 1 sachet (15 gr).
I take the proteins out of the refrigerator and beat them with sugar until stable peaks form, that is, long and tedious. If you stop whipping, put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes again. Scramble where they go! I dissolve the gelatin in 100 ml of hot water and mix it into the ready-made proteins, put it in the molds - and in the refrigerator.Voila - the most delicate dessert is ready! Naturally, there are more than four proteins, I increase the number of products according to the proportion.
Today I poured it into new silicone molds for muffins - such bonzhurki turned out))) You can pour hot chocolate, you can add citric acid to the mass to soften the sugary-sweet taste, you can cut it into sweets and again with chocolate - it will turn out like in Soviet childhood - real " bird's milk".
Happy Holidays!