---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
 
      Title: Masha's Easter Kulich
 Categories: Breads
      Yield: 1 servings
 
      1 c  Skim milk; heated to lukewar
           -m
           (98 to 110 degrees)
      3 tb Active dry yeast
  1 1/2 c  Honey or maple syrup
    1/2 c  Raisins
      1 ts Saffron threads
    1/4 c  Rum or apple juice
      5 c  Unbleached white flour
           ; or more, divided
      2 ts Salt
      1 ts Vanilla
      2    Eggs; lightly beaten
      3 tb Melted butter or canola oil
    1/4 c  Chopped almonds
    1/2 c  Chopped mixed dried fruits
 
  Recipe by: St. Louis Post-Dispatch 3/24/97
  In large mixing bowl, combine milk, yeast and honey; stir
  well. Cover bowl with clean dish towel; set aside warm
  place for 10 minutes or until yeast foams.
  
  In smaller bowl, soak raisins and saffron in rum for 10
  minutes.
  
  Add raisin mixture and enough flour to yeast to form a
  thick batter. Stir with wooden spoon vigorously about 20
  times. Cover bowl again and let dough rise in warm place 1
  hour.
  
  Add salt, vanilla, eggs, butter, almonds, fruits and enough
  additional flour to make a kneadable dough. Transfer dough
  to floured board or counter; knead 10 minutes or until
  elastic and silky to touch.
  
  Clean bowl. Place kneaded dough into bowl, cover and let
  rise in warm place 1 hour. Punch down dough, then let rise
  again 25 minutes.
  
  Wash and dry, then oil inside of empty 3-pound coffee can.
  Line can with unprinted buttered brown paper, such as from
  a grocery bag, cut into long strips, allowing tops of
  strips to hang over top of can. Tie ends against side of
  can with string. (Overhanging paper strips make baked bread
  easier to remove from can.) Roll dough into a ball and
  press into can. Cover with clean dish towel and let rise 30
  minutes or until dough rises above top of can.
  
  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake bread in can on lowest
  oven shelf for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 40
  minutes longer or until golden brown. Let cool for 10
  minutes, then open bottom of can with can opener and remove
  bread by lifting out with paper strips.
  
  Note: Russian cooks often ice their kulich with a mixture
  of 1 egg white (or equivalent egg white powder and water),
  a pinch of salt, 1/2 cup powdered sugar or warmed honey and
  1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Beat the egg white until stiff
  peaks form, then fold in remaining ingredients; drizzle
  over kulich. Yield: 1 kulich.
 
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