Kulich

Method

Warm the milk to 30°C and whisk together with fresh yeast, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 100g flour; let this sponge rise for 45 minutes until foamy. Cream the butter with remaining sugar, then add eggs one at a time, beating well, before mixing in vanilla and cardamom. Combine the sponge with the butter mixture, add remaining flour and salt, then knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Fold in the dried fruit, candied peel and almonds, then place in a buttered, paper-lined cylindrical tin (kulich mould or tall cake tin). Cover and prove for 2-3 hours until the dough rises above the tin edge. Bake at 200°C for 50-60 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack. Make a glaze by mixing icing sugar with just enough water to form a thick paste, then drizzle over the cooled kulich and scatter with blanched almonds.