Easter cake step by step

Darlings, today I will show you how I make Easter cake. Alright, I admit, if you don’t take the Easter cake on Easter Sunday for the priest to bless, this is just a cake with cheese and raisins. Let’s assume you’re doing this, let’s assume I’m doing it (yeah, right) or let’s not assume anything and stop, for now, to the worldly part of our lives and leave the spiritual one to the priests. The Easter cake I know (advised by Mircea Groza over the phone, because I forgot how I made the dough last year, yes, don’t laugh; I’m making Easter cake once a year and I’m getting older and start forgetting things) is made with cozonac (Romanian sweet bread) dough and filled with cottage cheese mixed with egg and other things. See what and how below:
First, soak the yeast (10 grams) in milk and sugar, so it becomes alive and kicking.

For the dough, we need flour (500 grams), three teaspoons of sugar, one egg and lemon zest (I had a lime).

We also need milk, butter and sugar for kneading. They mix on the stove in order for the butter to melt. It’s important to make sure the milk is not too hot while you knead because the yeast might be altered. If you can hold your hand in milk it means that it has the right temperature. The quantity of melted butter and milk should be half the quantity of the flour. It can vary depending on the quality of the flour, but not too much.

Knead all the ingredients in a soft dough for about a quarter of an hour. Then, leave it to rise under a clean towel, for about half an hour.

Until the dough rises, you have time to prepare the filling. You need cottage cheese (300 grams), one cup of sugar, raisins, lemon zest, two eggs, milk and butter (there was some left from the dough) and three tablespoons of flour.

You can mix the filling either with a whisk, with the hand or with a blender, if you have one. I recommend using the blender, this way you’ll get a very homogenous paste.

Has the dough risen? Ok, grab an oven tray (round), smear it with butter and cover it in flour.

From the dough (except a small part, which you’ll use later) stretch a one centimeter thick sheet (this thickness is required if you want the Easter cake to rise) that you place on the bottom of the tray.

Pour the filling over the dough.

The remaining dough is swirled into thick pieces the size of a finger, which are then twisted like a cord.

Use the resulting cord to decorate the Easter cake, which then you brush with a whisked egg. This will make it shiny after it is baked and it protects the dough during baking.