Tsoureki is either loved or adored. Greeks serve it with coffee.
Tsoureki is a Greek sweet bread. Traditionally made for Easter, but you can find it throughout the year in pastry shops.
The basic shape is a braid, and if prepared for Easter, a red egg is placed in the middle.
If you find yourself in Thessaloniki, be sure to try tsoureki from the pastry shop Terkenlis. This pastry shop and bakery has been making the best tsoureki (and many other delicious pastries) since 1948. In recent years, tsoureki has been enriched with toppings and various fillings: chocolate, hazelnut, orange, lemon, and my favorite is with white chocolate and chestnut.
One of the Terkenlis chain pastry shops is located in Aristotle Square, and there are ten more in Thessaloniki, including at the airport, bus and train stations, and Cosmos shopping center. There are 6 Terkenlis pastry shops in Thessaloniki.
If you are vacationing in Leptokarya or Kallithea, you can also enjoy the rich taste of tsoureki.
The taste is specific and you may not like it at first bite. Mahlepi and mastic, resin from the mastic tree that grows on the island of Chios, are responsible for the specific taste (read more about it here), mahlepi, orange peel.
You can find mastic and mahlepi in spice shops, and they are also used in Arab cuisine.
Tsoureki Recipe
We have written a basic recipe (a slightly larger amount), you can add chocolate or something else for the topping according to your preference.
Ingredients:
12 eggs
5 cups of warm milk
5 cups of sugar
2 cups of warm water
2 cups of oil
1 cup of orange juice and zest
1 teaspoon of mahlepi
1 teaspoon of mastic
1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
1⁄2 teaspoon of cardamom
1 teaspoon of vanilla powder
6 tablespoons of dry yeast
Soak the yeast in a little milk and sugar, then mix it with flour (all-purpose flour, as much as needed, about 20-26 cups of flour).
Combine all wet ingredients, then all dry ingredients with the wet ones.
Once mixed, leave the dough to rise for a few hours in a warm place until it doubles in size.
After that, knead it a little. Make braids or another shape (like bread loaves for example). Let them rise for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Note: the yeast must be fresh.
Enjoy your meal!
Tsoureki is nicely packaged so it can also be a great gift. I have noticed that when excursions from smaller Greek cities come to Thessaloniki, one of the mandatory stops is Terkenlis. It does not need to be stored in the refrigerator.
