Moist Easter cake

Prepare the dough. Dilute 1 tbsp in 100 ml of warm milk. l. sugar and yeast. Leave in a warm place until a foamy cap forms. For those who only use compressed baker's yeast, remember that in this case you will need from 30 g (extra) to 40 g of regular yeast.

Add 1 tbsp to the remaining warm milk (210 ml). l. sugar and a few tablespoons of sifted flour. Add the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly. The resulting mass should have the consistency of thick sour cream.

Cover the top of the container with the base of the Easter cake dough with cling film and place in a warm place without drafts for 40-60 minutes. During this time, the dough should rise magnificently and increase in volume. The finished dough in the center begins to gradually settle.

While the dough is rising, start preparing other ingredients. Remove all food from the refrigerator. so that they have time to warm up to room temperature. Separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the yolks with sugar until a light mass of homogeneous consistency is obtained.

Beat the egg whites with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Cut the butter for the Easter cake dough into small cubes and leave at room temperature for 30 minutes until it becomes soft.

Add the yolks with sugar, salt, butter, and vanilla sugar into the prepared dough in portions. Stir with a spatula. Then add the whipped whites and the remaining flour (it should be sifted). Knead the dough thoroughly, either by hand or with a mixer hook. As the gluten develops, the dough will change before your eyes: it will become smooth and silky!

Cover the top of the container with Easter cake dough with cling film. Leave in a warm place to proof for about 2 hours. The Easter cake dough should at least double in volume and become light and airy.

The risen dough will look like this. It must be kneaded, kneaded and covered again with cling film. Let it rise again. Now the process will go faster, 30–40 minutes.

When the dough has risen, add dried fruits to it. They can simply be washed with warm water and dried, or pre-soaked in rum or cognac. Dried apricots and prunes should be cut into pieces. Knead the dough and place in pans lined with baking paper, approximately 1/3 of the way up.

Cover the cake dough in the pans with a towel. Leave for 30 minutes. Bake the cakes in an oven preheated to 180°C until done (check with a long wooden skewer). Baking time is 30 minutes for small cakes and up to 50 minutes for large cakes. Let the cakes cool in the pans (5 minutes), then carefully remove and place on their sides on a wire rack. Let cool.

Prepare the glaze to decorate the cakes. You can use a special dry mixture, which is easy to find in the store. Or beat the egg white with a small amount of powdered sugar until sharp peaks form, cover the resulting mass on the cakes and let the glaze dry.