Many years ago I got to try my aunt's Easter cake. A typical sweet bread from the region she and my dad are from (Castellón) and very different from the kind of cake we make in the area I'm from (Barcelona). I will never forget that cake. Light, airy, slightly sweet, wonderful. On an attempt to recreate that memory, I asked my aunt for the recipe and made it myself. The result? Well, keep reading.
Now, have I told you I'm terrified of making bread? I am. Deeply. I always fear it won't rise properly and it'll end up as a dense tasteless bunch of cooked flour. And as you know, challenging recipes are what Maria and I do as part of 'International Tarting', so we both got our hands to work.
The recipe is actually quite simple and involves very few ingredients. The only concern I had was the type of yeast. My aunt uses fresh yeast, which I found myself unable to find in any store. Fresh yeast can be substituted for active dry yeast, but the amount that needs to be used changes as well.
According to the San Francisco Baking Institute, 'Active dry can be used at 50% of the weight of fresh yeast and instant dry can be used at 40% of the weight of fresh'.
The recipe then is as follows
500 g / 17.6 oz all purpose flour
125 g / 4.4 oz white sugar
100 mL / 3.3 liquid oz oil
25 g / 0.88 oz active dry yeast (or double the amount of fresh yeast)*
zest of 1 lemon
3 eggs
Optional:
1 egg to brush the cake
Sprinkles to decorate
Optional:
1 egg to brush the cake
Sprinkles to decorate
*If using Fleischmann's brand, this is equivalent to 3 packages of active dry yeast.
Mix the yeast with half a cup of warm water and a teaspoon of sugar. Let it sit for 10 min and make sure it has at least doubled in volume (otherwise your yeast is not working properly).
In a bowl combine flour and sugar. Add the oil and mix well. As much as I'm a fan of olive oil, I do not recommend it for this recipe since the taste of the oil would mask the rest of flavors.
To the flour and oil, add the yeast and mix well. You can do it with a paddle attachment, a spoon, whatever you want. I like using my hands, I get dirty and have fun. Pretty much like being 3 years old and playing with mud. Add the eggs. Now work hard to combine everything together. Note that we added water to the yeast, so you'll need some extra flour. I added an extra half-cup.
Time to let the yeast do its work. My aunt lets it rise once, giving whatever shape she wants to the dough, from the beginning. I checked several recipes online that suggested letting it rise twice. So I let the dough rise for 2 hr in a place without air currents, not cold, not warm, covered with a kitchen towel. Then gave it the shape and let it rise for 3 more hours.
Here I freaked out. My dough didn't look like it had risen that much (on the second rise) and I thought the cake was gonna be dense and tasteless. There was nothing I could do so I proceded as normal. Brushed the surface with beaten egg and threw some sprinkles on it. Baked the cake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes, until golden.
And magic happened!
The cake came out delicious. Fluffy, airy and lightly sweet. Exactly like the one my aunt made for me. I couldn't be happier with the result. Which combined with sun and breeze and a warm cup of coffee, made for a perfect Easter Sunday breakfast.
Please guys, make this. Grab a cup of coffee, tea or don't grab anything. Just fill your mouth with it. Enjoy it. I certainly did.
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