Easter cake with raisins and dried apricots

To prepare the dough, put fresh yeast and granulated sugar in the specified amount in a bowl. Rub with a spoon into a homogeneous mass. Heat the milk until warm and pour it into the yeast with sugar, mix. Pre-sift the flour for the dough and pour it into the resulting yeast mixture, mix with a whisk until completely homogeneous. We tighten the bowl with the prepared dough with cling film and place in a warm place. After about an hour, the dough should double in volume, and bubbles should appear on the surface.

Add yolks, granulated sugar, salt to the matched dough and sift the flour.

Knead a dough that is quite dense in consistency with our hands. We put the container with the dough in a warm place and leave it for 30-40 minutes for proofing.

After the specified time has elapsed, add water at room temperature to the dough in portions, stirring after each addition. It is convenient to use a mixer with a hook attachment at this stage of dough preparation. After adding all the water, put the softened butter in the dough and knead until completely homogeneous. The consistency of the dough should be smooth, thick, but not tight.

We tighten the container with the prepared tests with cling film and leave in a warm place for two hours. During this time, the mass should increase by two and a half to three times.

After the specified time has elapsed, we spread the dough on the table surface (it is convenient to use a silicone mat), stretch it into a layer and overlap it, as indicated in the photo. Stretch the resulting rectangle and overlap again in the other direction. The described sequence of actions is necessary so that the finished cake has a loose, airy crumb texture.

We repeat the stretch a couple of times, after which we put the dough in a bowl, tighten it with cling film and put it back in a warm place for two to three hours.

Rinse raisins and dried apricots and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Pre-cut dried apricots into small pieces.Stir in dried fruits into the dough that has come up. We lay out the dough into shapes. If paper or silicone molds are used, then there is no need to lubricate them. We lubricate other types of forms with vegetable oil using a silicone brush. The dough in the molds must be allowed to rise in a warm place for an hour.

Preheat the oven to a temperature of 200 degrees. Place the cakes on the wire rack and place them on the middle level of the oven. Before baking, you can grease the cakes with a beaten egg - then the surface will turn out to be glossy. If you plan to glaze after baking, then the tops do not need to be greased. The baking time is 20-40 minutes depending on the size of the molds. Readiness can be checked with a toothpick by sticking it into the center of the cake. If the stick comes out dry, the products can be taken out. We take the finished cakes out of the oven and place them on the wire rack, let them cool. The surface can be powdered with icing sugar or glaze as desired.