Grandmother Demanes Easter Bread

By á-2397

This recipe was given to me by my cousin, Kim. Kim's dad was Jimrug1 and my mother's brother. Grandmother prepared this bread every Easter and it is delicious. The texture of the bread dough is very firm, and bakes to the texture similar to a pretzle; however, it is not chewy like a pretzle.

The glaze is not a thick glaze but adds a nice sweetness to the bread. It is hard to eat just one for sure. The leftover baked breads can be frozen and will reheat nicely in the microwave on a reheat setting, just use your judgement depending on the size of your breads. I made these as part of my Easter dinner and is one of the sides mentioned within my Roma Stuffed Tomatoes recipes.

Ingredients

• Syrup:
• 2 1/2 2 1/2 to to cups scalded milk cooled to warm. (To make scald milk, pour milk into a sauce pan, on medium heat bring milk almost to a boil ((180 degrees)) then remove from the heat.)
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 to cups rendered butter also known as clarifying butter or ghee. (To render butter, simmer the butter skimming off the foam it rises to the top until the butter liquid is clear.)
• 2 2 2 cups sugar
• 1 1 1/4 to dry yeast + 1/4 cups warm water and a tsp of sugar; or prepare the yeast according to the package directions.
• 1 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 tbls of anise seed (This gives the bread its licorice flavor.)
• Pinch Pinch salt
• 8 to 10 8 to 10 10 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 1 1 cup milk or cream (I used cream)
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 1 1 tbls unsalted butter
• 1/8 1/8 1/8 tsp salt
• to Mahleb:
• 2" 3 1 have Mahleb on hand so I did some research and found that you could substitute by with grindinf a 2" cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, and 1 bay leaf which is what I did for this recipe. I will try it next time with the Mahleb.

Details

Servings 25
Preparation time 80mins
Cooking time 100mins
Adapted from grouperecipes.com

Preparation

Step 1

Mix the warm milk, butter, sugar, yeast, anise seed, mahleb (or substitute), and salt in a large bowl. Add flour gradually – kneading as with bread dough. Cover and let rest for 1 hour. NOTE: this dough doesn’t double in size as with a standard bread dough, it will be very firm in texture.

Roll rope like pieces and then form into doughnut shape circles or whatever shapes you like. I chose to make 3 different shapes just for fun. Place the shaped breads on a lightly greased cookie sheet or a sheet lined with a Silpat and bake at 375 degrees for approximately 15-20 minutes. If you make larger shapes like I did when I shaped the twists and scarf-like shapes, you may need to bake for 20 minutes, if you bake with the smaller doughnut shapes, then you will probably bake them for 15 minutes. Remove the baked bread from the oven and let cool on a rack. NOTE: Making the smaller doughnut shapes will give you approximately 60 doughnuts.

Syrup – Bring the milk or cream, sugar and butter to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Brush over cooled Easter bread while still on the rack.
Enjoy!