Traditional Easter Kozunak

Ingredients:

• 1 kg flour
• 6 eggs
• 200 g butter or 1:1 butter:oil
• 200 g sugar
• 1 fresh yeast
• 250 ml milk
• grinded lemon zest
• 1 spoon rum
• almonds for decoration
• 1/3 tea cup raisins
• and/or chocolate chips
• pinch of salt
• 1 egg – white part

Preparation: 

Sift the flour into a deep bowl. Separately broke the eggs and mix with the sugar, lemon zest and rum. The milk should be heated up a little bit more than the body temperature. Mix the milk in a big bow with the crushed yeast, pinch of salt, 1 tablespoon  of sugar and 1 tablespoon of flour and pulls away in a warm place.
Put the sifted flour in a deep pot, form a whole in the middle and ad the egg mixture, milk and yeast. Start making the dough. At the beginning will get lumpy, do not be afraid, it is normal. Needs hard mixing. Crash it into the table 100 times as grandma says and at the end you will have a perfect dough. Depending on the flour you use, and the size of the eggs you may need to add more flour or eggs. The dough should be soft, easy to mix, but not be too sticky.
Put flour on the table and the dough on top. Then melt the butter. Spread the dough and then some of the melted butter on top. Mix. Then do it again with some of the butter. Do it several times till the butter is totally absorbed by the dough. If the dough starts to stick to the table, sprinkle it with flour. The purpose of this exercise is to obtain many layers in the dough, so to obtain the classic cake – thread. Then the dough ready and should be placed in a large bowl and left in a warm place to rise. When it doubles its volume knead the dough again and leave it to rise again. Then cut the dough in three pieces. Form them into a long thread, coat with oil, and sprinkle with flour.  Make a plait. Put the raisins or chocolate chips. Leave to rise as they are formed and then decorate the top with almonds, hazelnuts or whatever you prefer, scatter with sugar, spread the white part of the egg on top and bake. Depending on your preferences you can form it in different shapes.

At first put it in a well-heated oven at 220 C, after ten minutes decrease  to 180 C and bake for another half an hour. Look periodically and if it begins to roast, put aluminum foil on top to prevent it from burning.

It should become a delicious Kozunak.

Enjoy! 🙂