INGREDIENTS:

= All-Purpose Flour 2.2 lb. (1 kg) or about 6-7 cups + 1 cup

= 1½ cup milk - warm

= 6 eggs

= 10½ oz (300 g) unsalted butter

= 2½ cups sugar

= 1.7 oz (50 g) active dry yeast (four of ¼-oz packets)

= ¾ teaspoon salt

= 2 tablespoon vanilla extract

= 2-3 teaspoons vegetable oil – for spraying the working surface

= 1 cup raisins

= 1 cup dried cranberries

COOKING:

1. Warm up a large pot and pour warm milk, add dry yeast and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Leave it for 15 minutes to allow the yeast to dissolve and start fermenting.

2. When the milk with yeast start foaming sift 2 cups of flour into the pot. After each added cup mix well with a wooden spoon.

The mixture will be sticky like sour cream. Cover the pot with a clean towel and leave it in a warm draft-free place for an hour to let the dough rise.

3. In an hour add the salt to the dough and stir it with a wooden spoon.

4. Separate egg whites from the yolks. Set one yolk aside for egg-wash.

5. Using a spoon, mash together 5 yolks, 2 cups of sugar, and 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract. The mixture should become white. It takes about 10 minutes.

6. In a separate bowl beat the 6 egg whites until it is fluffy. You can use a mixer or a whisk.

7. Melt the butter.

8. Add the yolk and sugar mixture to the dough – work carefully, constantly stirring the dough with a wooden spoon.

9. Carefully stir into the dough melted warm butted. Stir carefully while adding each porting of the butter.

10. Fold the bitten egg whites into the dough – do it carefully, working with strokes from the bottom up.

11. Start sifting the rest of the flour into the dough – all together you should add about 4 cups of flour, mixing very well after each addition.

Spray the working surface with oil and sprinkle with flour. Remove the dough from the pot into the prepared working surface and kneed it for about an hour sprinkling it with flour as needed but trying to stay within 7 cups. 

The dough will have a nice yellowish color and will be just a bit sticky.

12. Wash your large pot in hot water, dry it well, grease it inside with oil and put the dough into this, put to rise. Leave it in a warm draft-free place for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. The dough should more than double in volume.

13. Meanwhile, wash and dry the raisins and cranberries. Put the dried raisins and cranberries in a colander and cover it with flour. Sift the flour away. This step is necessary to prevent the raisins and cranberries from sinking to the bottom of the cooked Kulich. It’ll help the berries to spread evenly throughout the Kulich.

14.  Prepare the forms for baking the Kulich or several smaller Kulichs. You can use special forms for baking as well as any other containers suitable for oven baking: such as ramekins or even empty and clean tins.

I used special paper forms for baking, an aluminum ladle, an aluminum mug, a tin from Pineapple slices, a large porcelain mug, and a smaller enamel mug.

On the bottom of each of these forms I put oiled circles that I cut to the size from the baking paper. I also covered the insides of each form with an oiled strip of baking paper. Then sprinkled the inside of the forms with flour and shook off the excess flour.

15. Once the dough has risen and doubled in volume, add the raisins and cranberries and mix with your hands.

16. Take the dough out of the pot into the floured working surface.

17. Fill each prepared form for 1/3 of its size with the dough with berries and raisins. It will allow the Kulichs to rise more within the forms and will make them light and airy. It is easier to use a knife to cut the necessary piece of dough for each form.

Put the filled forms on a baking sheet and leave them in a warm place for about 60-90 minutes – to allow the dough to rise in the forms and fill them up to ¾ of their size.

Preheat the oven to 360℉ (180℃). 

18. Prepare an egg-wash – beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of water and using a cooking brash wash the top of each Kulich with egg-wash.

19. Place the cooking sheet with the Kulichs in the middle of the heated oven. Bake for 45-60 minutes. Check the readiness of Kulichs by inserting a thin wooden stick – if it is dry, your Kulich is done.

If you take the Kulichs from the oven before they are fully baked, they will sag.

Leave the baked Kulichs in the forms until they cooled completely then remove them from the forms. They should come out easily.

You can decorate the baked Kulichs with icing, or custard sugar, or just leave them as they are – they are still beautiful.

INGREDIENTS for ICING:

= ¾ cup of custard sugar – sifted through a fine sieve

If you like you icing thick then you need more custard sugar – up to 1½ cups

= 1 egg white – very cold

= juice of ½ lemon

COOKING:

Put all ingredients into a mixer bowl and mix until thick but still running a bit.

Cover the cold Kulichs with icing and colored confectionery chips, if desired.

Heat the oven to 350℉ (180℃)

Place the decorated Kulichs on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes to allow the icing to dry. Make sure you don’t keep it in the oven for too long and your icing doesn’t turn yellow.