Khresty (хрести, Mid-Lent Cross Bread)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A large mixing bowl
• •Two baking sheets
• •A pastry brush
• •A kitchen scale

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Stir the warm water, honey, and yeast together in a large bowl. Leave it until the surface looks creamy and smells faintly of beer. If it sits flat and silent, your yeast is tired; start again now, before the flour gets involved.

2. 2

   Mix the dough

   Add the flour, salt, and sunflower oil to the bowl and mix until no dry patches remain. The dough will look rough and a little torn at first. Cover it for ten minutes so the flour drinks properly; this small rest makes the kneading kinder.

3. 3

   Knead until springy

   Knead by hand until the dough turns smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky, but not gluey. It should push back under your palm like something awake. This is a firmer dough than pampushky because the crosses need to hold their arms.

4. 4

   Let it rise

   Oil the bowl lightly, return the dough, cover, and leave it in a warm place until it has swollen close to double. Press it with a floured finger; the dent should fill back slowly, not snap shut. Watch the dough, not the clock.

5. 5

   Shape the crosses

   Turn the dough onto a lightly floured table and divide it into 12 pieces. Split each piece in two, roll both halves into short ropes, then lay one rope across the other to make a cross. Press the center firmly with two fingers so the arms hold together, then set each cross on a lined baking sheet.

   Build the cross from two ropes, don't stamp it out. The swollen join gives the bread its tear and its old field logic.
6. 6

   Proof and seed

   Cover the shaped breads and leave them until puffy and lighter in the hand. Brush the tops with strong tea or water, then scatter the poppy seeds generously over the arms and centers. Some will fall off. Let them; poppy always behaves like a small rebellion.

7. 7

   Bake until hollow

   Bake at 190C until the crosses are deep golden, the bottoms sound hollow when tapped, and the kitchen smells of toasted flour and sunflower oil rather than raw dough. The centers should be set, not pale and damp where the ropes meet.

8. 8

   Brush with honey

   Stir the honey, hot water, and pinch of salt together, then brush the hot breads lightly. Don't flood them. You want shine, a little stickiness, and poppy that still clicks under your teeth. If you keep the old custom, let one small piece dry completely and put it with your seed grain, or with a pot of herbs if that's the field you have.

Chef Tips

• •This is Lenten bread, so there is no milk, egg, or butter. Sunflower oil softens the crumb and gives the right Ukrainian smell; use unrefined green oil if you want it loud, refined if your household prefers it quieter.
• •Honey goes on after baking because it burns quickly. The tea or water before baking gives the poppy something to cling to, and the honey glaze gives the finished bread its shine.
• •The dough should be firm enough to hold a cross. If it spreads like a flatbread, knead in a spoonful or two of flour; if it cracks when you roll it, wet your hands and knead briefly until it softens.
• •Some villages made khresty more like dry biscuits, some softer like small buns, and some tucked raisins into the arms for children. A bit more modern is fine. The shape and the mid-Lent table are the memory.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake them the day before mid-Lent Wednesday if you need to; the lean dough keeps well wrapped, and the honey glaze refreshes with a few minutes in a low oven.
• •For an overnight dough, use 1 teaspoon yeast instead of 7g, mix the dough in the evening, refrigerate after kneading, then shape it cold in the morning and let the crosses rise until puffy.
• •If saving a piece for the seed custom, dry it uncovered for several days until hard, then wrap it in paper and keep it with seeds for spring planting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 75g)