This brioche like sweet Easter bread glazed with a simple sugar icing or melted white chocolate, aka Kulich in Russian, is always the biggest hit at holiday brunches!
Try this Kulich recipe with another Russian Easter favourite Sweet Cheese Pudding Paskha.
I feel an incredible pull of tradition every year when Easter comes around. No matter how busy I am, the need to cook, bake and colour eggs overpowers everything else.
I’ve written about Russian Easter traditions here and here, so if you’ve been following me for a while you know that Easter is the biggest holiday in the Orthodox tradition, which affects everyone in the whole country… Orthodox or not. Everyone celebrates Easter.
What is Russian Easter Bread Kulich?
Kulich is a sweet bread that every Russian family eats for Easter… it’s an unbreakable tradition. Its sweet, rich and buttery yellow-coloured flesh studded with all kinds of great things-golden raisins, candied citrus peel, almonds is what I want to stuff my face all the time.
But I wait till Easter like a good girl. If I were to compare it to anything I would say it’s a cross between Italian Panettone and French Brioche.
My grandma would start the dough the night before, let it rise overnight and wake up well before dawn to make all kinds of goodies- filled pastries, sweet and savoury, cinnamon buns and Kulich.
Waking up to sweet aroma of freshly baked bread is one of my favourite childhood memories.
My grandma’s baking was the best, none of my friends’ grandmas came even close to her greatness but, unfortunately, she never wrote down any recipes and some of the most traditional Russian recipes, which she was the keeper of, got lost with her passing.
Because of such high expectations, only heightened by my nostalgic memories, I never thought I would like another Kulich. However, I wanted to revive the tradition in my own family, so I went on a recipe hunt.
I spent a while searching in hopes to find one that resembled my grandma’s. Truth is, I was only a child and didn’t remember how grandma made the bread. In the end, I had to turn to Natasha’s Kitchen.
She’s got her mom and aunts with their wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to Russian and Ukrainian food, and everything always looks incredible!
I consult her blog any time I am unsure about any traditional recipe and she never disappoints. I followed her recipe religiously except for the finishing touches. I used chocolate chips instead of traditional raisins and I topped it with white chocolate instead of sugar glaze.
I didn’t think any recipe could top my grandma’s and I almost feel guilty for saying this but Natasha’s recipe is without a doubt the most luxurious Kulich I have ever had! The first loaf was gone within hours…thank God that the recipe makes 3!
Now I can relax knowing that once again my Easter table with be crowned with this gorgeous bread that’s been enjoyed by generations of others before us.
Happy Easter!
More Easter recipes
- Sweet Cheese Pudding “Paskha”
- Coloured Easter Eggs
- Double Decker Devilled Eggs
- Roast Leg of Lamb with Mint Sauce
- Glazed Ham
- Rosemary Potatoes au Gratin
Ingredients
For the bread
- 2 cups + 2 Tbsp warm whole milk
- 6 eggs room temperature
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast
- 2 cups sugar
- 250 gr/ 0.5 lbs butter melted (if using salted butter, omit the salt)
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 9 cups all-purpose Canadian flour divided
- 1 to 1½ cups chocolate chips or raisins
For the glaze
- 200 gr/ 2 bars -white chocolate melted
- sprinkles
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or another large mixing bowl combine 2 cups + 2 tbsp warm milk, 6 eggs, 1 tbsp yeast, 2 cups sugar, warm melted butter, ½ tsp salt, ½ cup sour cream and 1 tsp vanilla. Add 4 cups flour to make a batter consistency of sour cream. Cover with a cling wrap and a towel and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
- Add 5 more cups of flour; one cup at a time or until the dough no longer sticks to your hands to make a very soft and elastic dough. Stir in 1 to 1½ cups of chocolate chips or raisins, candied citrus peel or nuts. (Anything you like in your sweet bread). Cover and let dough rise another 2 hours in a warm place. The rising process will take longer if your house is not very warm.
- Divide dough evenly into three deep 8" baking pans, that have been well-oiled. Try not to handle the dough too much. Let dough rise uncovered in a warm place for additional 2 hours or until you see a significant rise.
- Bake at 350F/180C for 35-40 minutes or until golden.
- Remove from the pan and cook on a wire wrack.
- Once the loaves are at room temperature, melt while chocolate in a double boiler over low heat and cover the tops of bread with it.
- Use sprinkles to decorate.
Kathy Louth says
March 1, 2019 at 4:21 amDear Julia,
Thank you for this fabulous recipe. I am Armenian and my mom always made this Easter bread in the coffee cans. The memories! I have never attempted this and I live at a high altitude, 6500 Feet and want to know if I have to adjust anything? Also do you just put everything in at once in the mixer? And do you use the Dough hook to start with? Thank You for your help.
Kathy
vikalinka says
March 1, 2019 at 4:26 pmHi Kathy, I am so glad the recipe for this Kulich brings good memories! You can use a paddle attachment in step one and then switch to the dough hook in step 2. I am not entirely sure how to adjust the recipe to a high altitude baking. I’ve never lived in high altitude and don’t have any experience in that regard. I am sure there are lots of articles online that give advice on it. Enjoy the recipe! Best, Julia
vera bentley says
November 25, 2017 at 4:35 ami read your recipes & it just brings back so many glorious memories of the day before easter & all the work involved for my mum & babushka, not for me tho, i was too young! tho i had to clean my room lol
vikalinka says
November 25, 2017 at 8:59 amI am glad my writing brings back memories, that’s all I’ve got left too! 🙂 Making the recipes bring memories back to life though and that is why I love cooking.
Val says
April 7, 2017 at 7:56 amWould you have the recipe for a gluten free version?
vikalinka says
April 7, 2017 at 8:30 amUnfortunately I don’t have one, Val. I know people have successfully used gluten free flour in place of the regular one in my cake recipes but this one is a yeasted bread, so I am not really sure how this would work.
Maria says
May 2, 2016 at 4:41 pmI’m looking for a better kulich recipe for next Pascha and I found yours. This is probably a dumb question, but most kulich recipes I see online involve kneading the dough. Does this dough get kneaded? If so, when is it kneaded? It just seems like there is so much liquid in this recipe that, even after 9 cups of flour, this dough would be too sticky to knead. I would appreciate any advice you can give! Thanks.
vikalinka says
May 2, 2016 at 5:18 pmHi Maria, this dough is pretty sticky and it produces amazing results. It’s has the texture and taste of brioche rather than bread. Also, it is kneaded in a stand mixer with a dough hook, which is designed for that but you can definitely knead it by hand if you are not using the machine. I hope this helps.
Cheryl says
March 26, 2016 at 2:16 pmThe shape of your kulich is perfect! What kind of “deep 8″ baking pan” do you use? Thank you!
vikalinka says
March 26, 2016 at 4:49 pmMy pan is about 4″ tall if that help, Cheryl. They are available at Marks and Spencer in the UK. In Russia women bake them in large coffee cans like the ones you can get at Tim Hortons in Canada 🙂 to achieve the traditional shape.
Cheryl says
April 6, 2016 at 4:02 pmI will try the coffee cans! Thanks for the reply!!
Joan says
March 26, 2016 at 6:18 amI’ve been eating it and then baking it for decades. Ours has always had egg yolks (not whole eggs), saffron, half cream-half milk, and ground star anise. I would venture a bet that it is better 🙂
Tammy says
April 15, 2015 at 11:03 pmYou have the most beautiful. Most artistic. Most delicious photos I’ve seen. Wow! I just wish I could cook like you. Man, I guess I’m a little jellie over here
vikalinka says
April 16, 2015 at 6:54 amYou are too kind, Tammy! Thank you so much for visiting. 🙂
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
April 15, 2015 at 10:37 pmSuch a pretty bread, what a lovely Easter tradition!
Winnie says
April 15, 2015 at 8:40 amThis is such a stunning cake!! Absolutely mouth-watering.
I’m pinning and and also saving the recipe
Thanks for sharing 🙂 I can’t wait to try it
Gintare @Gourmantine says
April 14, 2015 at 9:43 amTraditions are there to be passed on and cherished! Such a beautiful cake, I can’t believe I never tasted it! Xx
vikalinka says
April 14, 2015 at 11:08 amGintare, are you serious?!! You must have something very similar in Lithuania though, don’t you? Funny enough, I appreciate it much more as an adult than when I was a child. 🙂
Little Broken says
April 11, 2015 at 1:06 amSuch beautiful presentation Julia! I’ve never made kulich of my own and this year completely failed at baking anything but maybe next year. I turn to Natasha too for traditional dishes b/c we make them so rare and I have no clue on what I’m doing 🙂
vikalinka says
April 12, 2015 at 11:00 amSame here, Katya. We don’t eat many traditional dishes. I never knew how to bake with yeast but I really wanted to learn so I experimented a lot. I still haven’t tackled piroshki. It might be a fall project once I finish my course and done with busy summer. 🙂
sue|theviewfromgreatisland says
April 7, 2015 at 2:16 pmJust stunning!!
vikalinka says
April 8, 2015 at 6:34 pmThank you, Sue. You are too kind!
Oana says
April 7, 2015 at 1:35 pmWe too (Romania) have similar Easter customs. But I love how a simple bread turns into a delicay with the white chocolate frosting. It looks stunning and I can imagine how good it tastes.
vikalinka says
April 8, 2015 at 6:33 pmI completely agree, Oana! Even my mom called it a cake! LOL Thank you for stopping by!
Jennifer Farley says
April 6, 2015 at 9:22 pmThis cake is absolutely stunning!
vikalinka says
April 8, 2015 at 6:33 pmThank you, Jennifer!
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says
April 5, 2015 at 11:08 pmStunning bread, Julia! Hope you had a wonderful Easter 🙂
vikalinka says
April 6, 2015 at 9:43 amThank you, Jennifer! Happy Easter to you! 🙂
Lucy @SupergoldenBakes says
April 5, 2015 at 8:02 amWhat an absolutely stunning Easter bread! Every year I keep meaning to blog about Tsoureki which is the traditional Greek Easter bread and every year I leave it a tad too late… I love the look of your Kulich I have a terrible feeling I would eat most of that loaf myself! Have a happy Easter xxx
vikalinka says
April 5, 2015 at 9:24 amThank you, Lucy! I am so looking forward to reading about your Tsoureki next Easter! I know what you mean with some traditional recipes…they seem so daunting but I think it’s the feeling we get from our childhood when we saw our our mums and grans as super heroes and everything they made was grand! Happy Easter, my friend! xxx
Natasha of Natashaskitchen.com says
April 5, 2015 at 4:36 amJulia, I’m so happy you loved the kulich! 🙂 Reading your post made me smile big. That’s quite a compliment :). Pinned! 🙂 Have a happy and blessed Easter!
vikalinka says
April 5, 2015 at 8:41 amI am absolutely in love with this recipe even though it takes all day to make! lol Now we are all looking forward to making french toast with it. Happy Easter to you, Natasha and that gorgeous family of yours!
Gina Collins says
April 2, 2018 at 12:18 pmCan you share the specific pan you used? Was it an 8 inch cake pan?
Thank you!
vikalinka says
April 2, 2018 at 3:18 pmThis is the link to the pan I use, Gina. http://www.marksandspencer.com/non-stick-deep-round-cake-tin/p/p22358502?OmnitureRedirect=deep+cake+tin