Notes on Olia Hercules' poppyseed Easter bread recipe

a #bakeforukraine recipe

I followed Olia’s recipe pretty much to the tee, except for the following:

• I made two smaller breads, better for a bake sale. Even at half-scale, they are generously sized.

• I added a tangzhong to the dough, to keep the bread moist longer, since it wouldn’t necessarily be eaten right away. My formula and a method for the dough can be found below.

• I used milk powder & water instead of milk. If you want to use milk, bring it to a boil on the stovetop, and increase the total (in step one) to 200g instead of 180g. (Don’t skip the 18g of cold water, which helps to keep the flour from clumping.)

• For the poppy-seed filling, I brought the mixture to a boil, covered it and let it sit for 30 minutes, by which time most of the milk had been absorbed.

• I grated the apple on a large-holed box grater instead of dicing it.

• I filled and shaped mine identically, though I only rolled the halved amount of dough to about a 15- by 10-inch rectangle.

• Be sure to look at all the photos on Olia’s post, which are extremely helpful for understanding how this bread is shaped.
  

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Tangzhong makoviy rulet dough

Makes 750g dough

Tangzhong

36g high-protein all purpose or bread flour

18g cool water

180g boiling water

Final dough

100g (2 large) eggs

60g sugar

2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract

325g high-protein all purpose or bread flour

18g milk powder

10g (2 1/4 teaspoons) instant yeast

8g (1 1/2 teaspoons sea) salt

1. For the tangzhong: Place the cool water and starch in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. Pour boiling water over flour mixture and whisk until mostly uniform mixture forms, about 15 seconds. Allow to cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

2. For the dough: Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla, and yeast to the bowl with the tangzhong and whisk until uniform. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, and mix on low speed until the dough just comes together and no dry flour remains, 2 to 5 minutes. Cover loosely and let sit for 20 minutes.

3. Add the salt to the bowl and mix on medium speed the dough is silky and starts to clear sides of bowl (it will remain webby and sticky), 6 to 8 minutes.

4. Desired Dough Temperature: 75-78˚F.

5. Transfer the dough to another bowl if necessary (or proof in mixer bowl if space allows). Cover and let sit at 75˚F until about doubled in volume, 90 to 120 minutes. Using lightly-moistened hands, fold the dough at 45 and 90 minutes.

6. Divide in half if making two smaller breads or leave whole for a full-sized one.