Korovay | Ukrainian Wedding Bread Decorated with Dough

Set aside one 100 ml measure of the warm milk (37°C / 99°F; it should feel warm on your wrist). Mix it with one 5 ml measure of sugar and the yeast. The surface should foam within 10 minutes; if it does not, the yeast is inactive and the dough will not rise.

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, remaining milk, eggs, remaining sugar, and oil; knead for 10 minutes. Add the butter in three additions and knead for another 5–8 minutes, until the dough pulls cleanly away from the sides of the bowl and becomes glossy and elastic.

Set aside 300 g of dough. Knead it with 60 g flour for 3 minutes, until firm and no longer sticky. Wrap it in plastic wrap to keep it from drying out and forming a crust; let the main dough rise, covered.

Press the air out of the risen main dough and shape it into a smooth, taut ball. Place it in a greased 28 cm pan or on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then gently press it into a low dome with your hands.

Divide half the decorative dough into three thin ropes, braid them, and wrap the braid around the base of the loaf. Shape the remaining dough into palm-sized birds (tie one end of a rope into a knot for the head and snip the other end with scissors to make a tail), wheat stalks (oval pieces snipped diagonally with scissors), and leaves. Attach the decorations to the loaf with egg white, and place two birds facing each other in the center.

After the second rise, gently brush the entire surface of the korovay with egg yolk beaten with milk, making sure to reach into the folds of the decorations.

Bake on the middle rack of an oven preheated to 180°C / 355°F for 50–55 minutes. If the decorations darken after 25 minutes, cover the loaf with foil. It is ready when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped and the internal temperature is 92–94°C / about 200°F.