Braided Bread-Russia(Kolach) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 tsp. sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
2 packages dry yeast
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 cups milk warmed to 110 F
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil or melted butter
8 cups of unbleached flour
1 large egg, beaten with 1 Tbsp. of water for glazing
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds, optional

Preparation

Dissolve 1 tsp. sugar in the water and sprinkle the yeast over it. Add 1 Tbsp. of sugar, stir and let stand for 10 minutes. Combine the yeast with the milk, lightly beaten eggs, salt 2 Tbsp. of sugar, oil, and 2 cups of sifted flour. Beat until smooth. Cover and let rise in a warm place until light and bubbly, about 1 hour. Mix in enough flour to make a light but slightly sticky dough, then knead in bowl until smooth and elastic. Now form dough into a bowl and very lightly oil dough enough to cover the whole dough ball. Cover bowl of dough with a warm damp dish towel, lightly damp only. Let rise in warm place until it doubles in size. Punch down and allow dough to rise again slightly.