Polish Easter Sweet Bread
Polish Easter Sweet Bread is somewhere in between cake and bread. It’s a yeast-risen bread, so, as you can see from the picture above, it’s nothing like banana bread or zucchini bread. It’s far more like white bread, but it’s so rich, sweet, and delicate that you’ll be tempted to think of it more like coffee cake. However, it’s not nearly sweet enough to fall firmly into the pastry category. It’s its own thing. Traditionally, this bread is served with Easter dinner (or as something to nosh on throughout the day), with a soft butter lamb nearby. Very often, one or two of these loaves will find their way into a święconka basket, and so, having been blessed by a priest, will take a place of honor at the Easter dinner. (On occasion, my grandfather used to secretly tuck one or two beers neatly in under the bread, and hence had them inadvertently blessed as well.)

Ingredients

½ oz. active dry yeast (2 packages)
1½ oz. warm water (3 Tbs)
16 oz. warm milk (2 cups, nuke 2 minutes, to 120°F), plus 1 Tbs cold milk
7½ oz. sugar (1 generous cup)
40 oz. flour (8 cups)
5 eggs, room temperature (8.75 oz.)
5¼ oz. softened butter (⅔ cup)
¼ tsp salt
Generous pinch of nutmeg
Zest of 1 orange or ½ med-large lemon
3 Tbs orange juice or 1½ Tbs lemon juice
5 oz. golden raisins (½ cup, packed)
Ingredients for the Crumbs:

5 oz. butter, softened (1¼ sticks)
8 oz. flour (3 scant cups)
4½ oz. sugar (1 scant cup)

Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over water in a large bowl; set aside.
Pour warm milk over 2½ oz. (⅓-cup) of the sugar and stir to dissolve; cool to lukewarm (about 15 minutes).
Stir yeast mixture into milk mixture and add 15 oz. (3 cups) of the flour; mix well. Cover lightly and set aside to rise in warm place for an hour, during which time it should rise significantly and appear bubbly. In the meantime, prep the remaining ingredients; by the time you’ve finished, you should see some activity in your poolish. If you don’t, place it in a warmer spot for the remainder of its rise time.

Beat 4 of the eggs until thick and lemon-colored (about 1 minute on med-high speed). Add remaining 5 oz. (⅔-cup) sugar, butter, salt, nutmeg, zest, and juice; mix, ramping up to med-high speed, for about 1½ minutes (mixture will not fully homogenize). Add yeast/milk mixture and raisins; mix. Mixture will be the consistency of a thick batter. Add enough of the remaining flour to turn the batter into a dough-like consistency, to the point that the paddle is no longer effective (or, if by hand, the dough will become too thick to stir). Dough will be very sticky and too fluid to form into loaves. Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.

Then, continue adding flour and knead just until the dough is right on the threshold of no longer being sticky. At this point, continue to knead, but resist adding more flour. Total kneading time: 10 minutes if using a mixer, 20 minutes if by hand. (If using a mixer, note that the dough will not clear the bowl.) Place in greased bowl; let rise in a warm place 1½ hours or longer, during which time it should increase in size significantly, and should feel warm, soft, and airy.

Meanwhile, make the crumb by mixing all its ingredients together with your hands until it forms clumps, or use a mixer, ramping up to high speed until fine crumbs are formed. (If there is leftover juice from the lemon, feel free to add it to the crumb, compensating for the added liquid with a bit more flour.

Punch down risen dough. Form into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Combine the remaining egg and milk and brush the loaves carefully. Distribute crumbs, and gently push them into the dough. Cover loosely with buttered plastic wrap or foil. Let rise until the dough starts to overhang the sides of the pans, about 45 minutes (or overnight in the refrigerator). (If dough was refrigerated, let it sit out on the counter while the oven preheats.) Bake at 350°F for 55 minutes or until hollow when tapped. De-pan immediately. Cool completely on racks. Do not slice into it until it’s cooled to room temperature, or perhaps has a barely detectable amount of remaining warmth.

"Polish Easter Sweet Bread," from Make It Like a Man!