Tsoureki
Tsoureki ( Greek τσουρέκι) is a simple, sweet-tart dough pastries of Greek cuisine , also known as شوريك ( Arabic ), panarët (Arbërisht) choreg or "chorek" ( Armenian չորեկ) çörək ( Azerbaijani ), cozonac ( Bulgarian ) cozonac ( Romanian ) or çörek ( Turkish ). It is a yeast wreath that is traditionally served for the Greek Easter festival . A red Easter egg is often placed in the middle of the yeast wreath for decoration . The consistency of the yeast wreath corresponds to that of bread, but its taste is similar to a cake (comparable to brioche ). In Greece, Easter bread marks the end of Lent and is traditionally served on Easter Sunday . The production is complex and usually starts a week or two before Easter. A tsoureki is also given as a gift during Easter, for example to the godchild of the godparent.
Ingredients and preparation
The dough consists of flour, yeast , eggs, butter, sugar, water, milk, machlépi , mastic , grated orange peel and a little olive oil . Depending on your taste, the tsoureki can also be seasoned with cardamom or vanilla . The dough is formed into a braided wreath and decorated with flaked almonds.
Well-known Tsoureki manufacturers
The Terkenlis company has been a Thessaloniki- based pastry shop with a long tradition since 1948 . The pastry shop makes very special tsoureki variants that are known throughout Greece. Terkenlis makes tsoureki filled with chestnuts, lemon or oranges, chocolate, nougat or a cream from Chios . The glaze made of white or dark chocolate is very characteristic of the Easter bread from the Terkenlis confectionery.