Tsoureki is an Easter cake sprinkled with sesame seeds and decoreated with red eggs.
 | 4 to 5 packages (4 to 5 tablespoons) active dry yeast |
| 3/4 cup warm water |
| 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, plus 5 pounds sifted flour, or more as needed |
| 1 tablespoon plus 3 cups sugar |
| 1/4 teaspoon plus 1 tablespoon salt |
| 12 eggs, plus 1 or 2 eggs, beaten, for topping |
| 2 cups milk, scalded and cooled |
| 5 sticks (1 1/4 pounds) unsalted butter, melted |
| 1 tablespoon ground masticha flavoring or 1 teaspoon ground mahlepi flavoring (see note) or 1 tablespoon vanilla extract |
| sesame seeds for topping |
| red-dyed hard-boiled eggs for decoration |
Mix yeast with water. Add 1/2 cup flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir, and let rise in a warm place until mixture bubbles and foams, about 10 minutes.
In a very large bowl beat 12 eggs. Add 3 cups sugar, cooled milk, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon salt. Stir in yeast mixture. Blend masticha (or mahlepi or vanilla extract) with sifted flour and add to liquid to make a stiff and elastic dough. Knead well on a floured board for about 5 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl; cover with a damp towel and let rise until double in bulk. Punch down and turn over in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a damp towel and let rise again until almost double in bulk. (The second rising should not take as long as the first.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Shape dough into fifteen to eighteen 14-inch-long ropes, braid 3 at a time, and place on greased round bread pans or cookie sheets to rise; cover. When they have doubled in bulk, bursh with beaten eggs and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Arrange 3 or 4 red eggs on each braid in the shape of a cross. If long braids are made, put 1 red egg at the top.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden.
Note: Mahlepi is made from the seeds of the fruit of the mahllepi bush.
About 5 to 6 large twists.
