Recipe
For the leaven
1. 100 ml of water (room temperature)
2. yeast
3. 3 tbsp of hard flour (12-14% of gluten content)
4. 1 tbsp of sugar
waiting time: 25-30 min
For the dough
1. 150 ml of water (room temperature)
2. 100 ml of sunflower oil
3. 200 ml of thyme honey
4. 550 gr. of hard flour
5. 1/2 tsp of mastic
6. 1/2 tsp of mahlepi
waiting time: approx. 2 hours to increase in size, and approx. 1 h to increase even further after making the tsoureki. The dough is enough for two tsourekia (plural of tsoureki).
For the smearing of the dough
1. some honey with a little bit of water
2. sliced almonds
Bake at 160 C (fan assisted) for 40 min.
Procedure
Tsoureki is a sweet dough that has three general rules when prepared. First, leaven is necessary to be prepared that will soften the dough. The waiting time is around 25-30 min. Second, in this recipe hard flour is always used. This flour contains 12-14% of gluten, which will give tsoureki its characteristic texture. Please read the label on your flour. It must contain 12-14 gr of protein per 100 gr of flour. Third, the dough must be kneaded with a mixer with hooks for at least 10-15 min. The kneading will produce the fibers that are typical of tsoureki. If hook mixer is not used, then we will just get a sweet bread and nothing more.
Please do not put too much mastic into the mixture. The dough will become bitter and not necessary tastier. Tsoureki cannot be prepared without the two spices that I have referred, because this bread is known for exactly this taste that the spices provide to the mixture.
Contrary to other doughs, this specific dough needs more time to increase in size. Around 2 h in the first round and around 1 h in the second. It will also be increased in the oven when baked.
Description
Tsoureki was initially prepared during Christmas and Easter, but it gradually became very popular, and it is now prepared all year round. Some of the biggest and well known greek bakeries prepare different types of tsourekia, with fillings and coverings. The filling may contain chestnut, chocolate, apples and cinnamon etc. and the covering may contain dark, white or milk chocolate. For example, one of the most well known tsourekia is the one that contains chestnut filling with white chocolate covering.