Greek Easter Bread with the Babes

I'm really glad that my dairy allergy seems to have gone away because this month, the wonderful Kitchen of the Month Kelly of A Messy Kitchen invited us to bake Cypriot Easter Bread with Cheese, also known as Flaounes. Although the recipe calls for halloumi and I'm sure it would have been better with that cheese, when I tried to buy some I found that it was extremely expensive, so I went with mozzarella. Not my best idea because the cheddar was mild and so was the mozzarella. The ground cherry pits, also known as mahleb helped a little with flavor, but not alot. I was also unable to procure the resin mastic, but I did include some cardamom. All in all I found the bread to be nice but bland and the filling was also bland. The best thing was the sesame seeds.

It was a fun bread to make. I probably didn't roll it thin enough, but that made it easy to handle once I cut the dough into squares. First you paint one side with egg wash (an egg beaten with a little water), then the eggy side goes down onto sesame seeds spread in a pan - or in my case a paper plate. A scoop of the cheese mixture that was made the day before gets placed in the middle of the square, more egg wash is applied around the edges, then the edges are squeezed together to encase the cheese mixture. I had trouble with that, so I ended up with ones that looked more like boats than flowers or squares. Still, even the less pretty ones baked up to be golden with just a bit of char on top...usually where the raisins were. I made my squares 4 inches by 4 inches and reduced the amount of cheese a bit, too. Even so they were large. Next time I'll make the dough squares 3-inches square.

I still have some of the dough and some of the filling so I think that I'm going to add lemon zest to the filling and more of the mahleb, plus more sugar, to the dough. It will become a sweet roll and I'll serve it with some fruit. That's the great thing about trying new recipes...you can usually figure out how to improve on them. If I lived in Cypress I could probably find the halloumi, and the mastic easily and could have the real deal. If I ever visit it should be at Easter so I can try the authentic bread! By the way, when this is posted, which is mid-February, the hills around where we live look like the photo in the header...green fields, bare trees. Since I change out the header every now and then it won't always look that way, but right now it shows the effects of winter rain - green, green grass - and yet spring is still not even on the horizon.

Hope that you will try this and become a Bread Baking Buddy. Bake and post by February 27th and send the URL and a photo to Kelly and she will send you a Buddy Badge and include you in the round-up.

Also, be sure to visit the other Babes...I suspect that they will have done a more authentic version than mine.

Cypriot Flaounes (Greek Easter Cheese Bread)
makes 12 (3 inch x 4 inch) flaouna

 Filling

    1 tsp mastic *   
    1 tsp mahleb **   
    1 tsp sugar
    8 oz (228 g) halloumi cheese (I used all halloumi)
    8 oz (228 g) soft, mild cheddar
    1c (115 g) raisins
    1/2 c (84 g) semolina flour (I used fresh ground durum wheat)
    1 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp dry mint, crushed (I used fresh mint, twice as much)
    2 eggs

 Dough

    2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
    1 1/4 c (300 ml) lukewarm milk, divided
    1 tsp mastic, optional   
    1 tsp mahleb *   
    1 tsp sugar
    4 c (512 g) flour
    1 tsp baking powder
    1/2 tsp salt
    1/3 c olive oil

For The Topping

    1 egg, beaten
    1/2 c (70 g) sesame seeds

Instructions
Day 1 - Make the Cheese Filling

    Using a mortar and pestle, combine the mastic and mahleb together with 1 tsp sugar and pound together until it is a fine powder.
    Grate the cheese and mix with the raisins, semolina flour, baking powder, pounded sugar and spice mixture, and crushed mint.
    Add the eggs, one by one, mixing until the cheese has come together as a firm mixture that can be shaped into a ball. (More or fewer eggs may be needed depending on the moisture level of the cheese used.)
    Cover the filling and refrigerate overnight, or at least 4 hours, to let the flavors come together.

Day 2 – Prepare dough, assemble and bake

    Remove cheese mixture from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature while you prepare the dough.
    Mix yeast with 1/2 cup lukewarm milk. Set aside for the yeast to activate, 5-10 minutes.
    Pound the mastic and mahleb with 1 tsp sugar until fine.
    In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar mixture.
    Add the oil and rub it into the flour with your fingertips, until the mixture has a sandy texture.
    Pour the yeast mixture into the flour and mix well with your hands.
    Add the remaining 3/4 cup of lukewarm milk gradually, kneading with your hands and adding just enough to incorporate all the dry ingredients and create a firm dough that does not stick on your hands.

    Cover dough and set aside to rise for 1-2 hours, until nearly doubled.

    Place the sesame seeds onto a wide plate or tray.
    Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick (it should measure roughly 15x20 inches). Cut the dough into 5 inch squares. (Or cut the dough your desired shape and size.)
    Brush one side of the cut dough with the beaten egg and place it egg-side down onto the seeds.
    Place a heaping 1/4 cup of the cheese filling on top of the dough (on the un-seeded side).  (Don't compact it, so that it stays light and airy!

    Brush the egg wash on the outer edges of the dough and fold them up towards the center (leaving the top center of the filling uncovered). Pinch the un-seeded side of the corners of the dough together to keep the sides in place over the filling.
    Place the shaped flaounes on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Brush the exposed filling with a little beaten egg.
    Let the pastries rise for 30-45 minutes, until slightly puffy.
    Near end of rising time, preheat oven to 375ºF.
    Bake the flaounes for 30 min, until deeply golden.
    

Serve with honey and cinnamon for a sweet treat or olives and sliced meat for savory.

*If you don't have mahlab, substitute 1 tsp with 1/2 tsp almond extract and 1/4 tsp cardamom (or a pinch of anise).