Most bakeries in Istanbul display these pretty loaves at their windows and they are available not just for Easter but year round! Fragrant with mastic and mahlepi, enriched with butter, eggs and milk, the breads have a brioche like texture and are commonly enjoyed in the afternoon with tea or coffee.
Mahlepi or mahlab is usually added to savoury cookies, pastries, buttery turnovers while mastic is generally used for desserts, especially dairy based ones such as this mastic pudding, Turkish coffee or jams but the combination of these two flavours is a match made in heaven. If you are after the same combination but don’t want to fuss with yeast, this mahlepi and mastic cookies or cake is a great alternative.
I adapted this recipe from my favourite Turkish cookbook, Classical Turkish Cooking by Ayla Algar. Out of all the recipes I tried for this special bread Ms. Algar’s is by far the closest to the ones from my childhood.
I am sending this to Yeastspotting.
- 3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 ½ tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground mahlepi
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp mastic
- 2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 stick butter, melted
- ½ cup whole milk, lukewarm
Glaze:
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Optional topping:
- Chopped or sliced raw hazelnuts (almonds can be substituted)
In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, salt and mahlepi. Crush the mastic with sugar using a mortar and pestle and add it to the flour mixture, mix for a few seconds, then add the eggs, egg yolks, melted butter and warm milk, mix until a ball of dough forms, continue mixing until the dough looks smooth, you can also knead it on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, let it ferment until doubled in volume, this should take about 3 hours, depending on the room temperature and the temperature of the ingredients used.
Divide the dough into six equal pieces and shape two 3 stranded loaves, transfer them to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper leaving at least 3 inches space between the loaves. Let them proof for 1-3 hours, until almost doubled.
Preheat the oven to 350F, prepare the glaze by lightly beating the egg yolk with the cream and brush all over the breads, wait for 5 minutes and brush again with the glaze and top with nuts, if using.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown, the breads have a tendency to get dark very quickly, if that happens, tent with a piece of aluminum foil.
Once the breads are done, remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack, serve with the jam of choice or honey.
What a beautiful bread!
Wow, this bread looks amazing! I need to check out these exotic mastic and mahlepi
By the way, thanks for mentioning the Yeastspotting, looks like a nice site
your breads all turn out so gorgeous!!
i’m supposed to bring bread to a dinner tomorrow. this is looking like a winner!!
Anlatım, fotoğraflar hepsi harika olmuş.
Mis gibi sakız ve mahlep kokusu sardı bir anda etrafımı sanki:))
Ellerine sağlık olsun Megi.
canim cekti
Dear Megi, this bread looks amazing. What kind of jam is that? By the way, I just ordered the Classical Turkish Cooking cookbook. Looking forward to the Passover recipes…
Gorgeous as usual!
Thank you all for the nice comments.
Hannah, the jam in the photos is my mom’s special quince jam with cloves. I hope you enjoy the book, it’s so well written and the recipes are amazing. I’ll start posting Passover recipes soon.
Once again a gorgeous baked good!
That jam looks heavenly, I love that it is so exotic (to me at least)!
Megi, the bread looks fantastic! I’ve never tasted mahlepi nor mastic…but love quince:). Lovely photos…
I am so jealous! Your bread looks fabulous. My mouth is watering from the photo … bread is my weakness!!
This looks wonderful, Megi! And I just ordered the cookbook you recommended – I’ve been looking for a Turkish cookbook, so it’s great to know which one to get. Thanks for your support – it means so much to me! Enjoy your weekend.
Thank you Susan, I really hope you like the book, I think it’s the best one out there and I have checked out quite a few. The recipes are clear, very well explained and accurate. I have probably made 90% of the recipes in the book and was very pleased with the results. Let me know what you think once you have a chance to take a look…
That’s a fantastic-looking bread!
Hi! Thanks for stopping by my blog! This bread is identical to our Greek tsoureki but that shouldn’t be a surprise since we share so many common food with Turkey! You made it really good. I love tsoureki and eat it all the year round. So I am sure I would love this as well!