Kalyta (калита, St Andrew's honey bread)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •A large mixing bowl
• •A rolling pin
• •A small glass or cutter for the centre hole
• •A lined baking sheet
• •A pastry brush
• •A cooling rack
• •Red ribbon or clean kitchen string

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix the dough

   Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon if using, and poppy seeds in a wide bowl. In another bowl beat the eggs with the warm honey, sunflower oil, milk or water, sugar, and vanilla if using. Pour the wet mixture into the flour and stir until it gathers into a firm, golden dough that smells faintly of honey and oil.

   Use unrefined sunflower oil if you can. It is Ukraine in a bottle of oil, and here you taste it clearly.
2. 2

   Knead and rest

   Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth and no longer craggy, adding only enough flour to stop it sticking. It should feel tight and elastic, not soft like pampushky dough. Cover it and let it rest for 20 minutes so the flour drinks in the honey and the dough stops fighting you.

3. 3

   Shape the sun

   Heat the oven to 180C. Roll the dough into a round about 2cm thick, then cut a neat hole in the centre with a small glass. Widen the hole with your fingers, because it will close a little in the oven, and smooth the edge so the ribbon will not tear it later. Set the ring on a lined baking sheet.

   Save the centre piece and bake it beside the ring as the cook's tax. Every ritual bread still owes the cook a bite.
4. 4

   Decorate and glaze

   Pinch or score simple rays around the ring, then brush the top with the egg yolk glaze and scatter over more poppy seeds. Keep the decoration shallow. This is not a cake. You want a clean round sun-disc, glossy and strong, with enough pattern to catch the light.

5. 5

   Bake it firm

   Bake until the bread is deep golden, the edges are darker than the middle, and a tap on the side gives a clean hollow knock. Brush with the thinned honey halfway through baking and again near the end. If it browns too fast, lower the heat slightly and keep drying it. The smell should change from raw flour and honey to toasted crust, warm poppy seed, and caramel.

   The colour forgives you. The structure doesn't. Kalyta must be firm enough to hang, so listen for the knock before you take it out.
6. 6

   Cool and hang

   Cool the kalyta completely on a rack. Thread the red ribbon or clean string through the hole only once it is fully cold, then hang it from a doorway, beam, or sturdy hook just high enough that people must stretch or jump to bite it. After the game, break the rest into pieces and pass it around with tea.

Chef Tips

• •Honey varies. If your dough feels sandy and won't come together, add warm milk or water one tablespoon at a time. If it feels slack, dust in a little more flour. You're aiming for firm biscuit dough, not soft bread dough.
• •The hole must be generous before baking. Make it larger than looks sensible, because honey dough swells and tries to close itself.
• •A softer, cake-like kalyta is a bit more modern and easier for small children to eat, but it won't survive the hanging game as well. For the ritual, bake it firm.
• •Poppy seeds belong here. They bring that old holiday taste: nutty, dark, and a little bitter against the honey.
• •If you don't want to hang it, serve it whole on the table and let everyone break a piece. The bread still carries the evening.

Advance Preparation

• •Kalyta can be baked a day ahead. Once completely cool, wrap it loosely in parchment and keep it at room temperature.
• •If hanging for the St Andrew's Eve game, bake it firm and let it dry uncovered for a few hours before threading the ribbon.
• •Leftover pieces keep for several days and are good dipped into hot black tea.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 90g)