Cheoreg

• There are a few key pointers in this recipe that make for a delicious cheoreg – the top two would be using freshly prepared mahlab mastic mix and bakers’ flour instead of plain flour.

Mahlab Mastic Mix

• Mahlab is nice on its own, but mastic adds its own distinct flavour. These ingredients are available year-round from Middle Eastern or Greek grocers. Look for whole mahlab that has no dust at the bottom of the packet, is plump and as fresh as possible. Also look at the split mahlab in the packet and go for packets where the split ones look most white – like almonds. I usually buy double the mahlab that I need so that when I pick through it, I can be very fussy. I’m happy to discard half, if it means the taste is perfect!
  
• Mastic should be translucent and a pale yellow colour.
  
• Prepare the mahlab mastic mix in advance. Pick through the mahlab and discard any that are shrivelled, yellow or have a dark skin – I have allowed for 5 – 8 grams to be discarded. Image shows discards.
  50 grams whole mahlab
  
• Weigh the remaining mahlab and grind 42 – 45 grams in the coffee grinder. Mahlab that grinds to a yellow colour is stale and will result in a bitter taste – don’t use it. If uncertain, gently crush the mahlab in a mortar and pestle first and use only the white ones.
• As mastic is a gum, grind it together with the mahlab in the coffee grinder to avoid it sticking to the blades. When ground, pass the mixture through a sieve and discard the last yellow parts (they don’t grind as well as the fresher parts).
  1 gram mastic tears
  
• This mixture makes around 10 teaspoons and will keep for two years but must be refrigerated and kept out of light – put it in a dark jar wrapped in aluminium foil and in an area of the fridge that does not get much light.
• If pressed for time, use 20 grams of pre-ground mahlab – it takes a bit more to achieve the same taste as fresh mahlab. Mastic is not available in ground form. If using pre-ground mahlab you may omit the mastic or grind the ground mahlab and mastic together in the coffee grinder.

Preparing the Bread Machine

• Every bread machine is different. For the Breville BB420, we use the following manual settings sequence:

  Preheat: 0 minutes

  Mix or knead 1: 5 minutes

  Knead 2: 20 minutes

  Rise 1: 90 minutes

  Punch down: 15 seconds

  Rise 2: 100 minutes

  Shape: 0 seconds

  Rise 3: 100 minutes

  Bake: 0 minutes

  Total time is 5 hours, 15 minutes, 15 seconds

Dough

• Before you start mixing, get the timer and bread machine ready. Take all of the ingredients out so that you can add them to the pan quickly. Add the ingredients to the bread machine pan in the order below.
• Place the cold milk into the bread machine pan.
  250 grams milk
• Melt butter in the microwave in a large glass bowl – do this in 20 second intervals otherwise it will splatter. Add butter to the bread machine pan.
  250 grams unsalted butter
  
• Weigh sugar into a separate bowl then add to the pan.
  300 grams caster sugar
• Whisk eggs very well in a glass bowl then add to the pan – the more air whisked into the eggs the better. Once the eggs are in the pan, work quickly.
  5 large eggs
  
• Weigh and add bakers flour, spread out in the pan and, for a dash of tradition as this is an Easter loaf, make a cross symbol with a finger in the flour.
  875 grams bakers’ flour
  
• Add yeast and mahlab mastic mix into the cross. Mahlab mastic mix and yeast should be measured with a metric teaspoon and levelled with the blunt edge of a knife. Don’t press the yeast into the teaspoon, but do press the mahlab mastic mix.
  2 teaspoons instant dried yeast, 2½ teaspoons mahlab/mastic mix
  
• Set the timer to finish in about 5 hours, check that you have the right settings for the bread machine, place the pan into the machine and press start!
  
• About 10 minutes into the program, open the lid and push down the mixture on the sides of the pan with a spatula, to mix in with the main ball of dough. Close the lid. You may need to do this once more.
  
• When the timer is finished, take the pan out of the machine.
  
• Turn out the dough on a large dish on the scale. Divide into equal portions according to how many braids you want to make – we would normally make 6 from this recipe but you could do between 4 and 8. Divide each of these into three equal portions – these will be the strands of the braid.
  
• Shape each set of three equal portions into strands about 3cms thick, then braid together. Repeat for the other braids.
  
• The braiding or plaiting process.
• Place the braided cheoregs well apart from one another onto oven trays lined with baking paper.
  
• To complete the final rise, place the trays in a very warm small room and leave to rise for about 2 – 3 hours. Another option is to heat up a bedroom to very warm, place an electric blanket on the lowest heat setting on the bed, and place the trays on the blanket.
• When risen (around 1½ – 2 times its original size), preheat oven to 160°C (140° fan forced).

Glaze

• Beat together the egg and milk for the glaze. Don’t use more than 2 teaspoons of milk as more milk will create a matte finish.
  1 large egg, 2 teaspoons milk
• As each batch is ready to go into the oven, brush very well with the glaze.
• Bake in a slow oven 160°C (140° fan forced) for about 20 minutes.
• Serve when cool. Choreg may be frozen when completely cool. Before freezing, double wrap each loaf in cling wrap.