Instructions: Makes 32 bread rings

Whisk the sugar, yeast, and water together in a medium bowl. Stirring in one direction with a wooden spoon, add 2-3 cups of flour, a cup at a time, mixing until incorporated. Stir for a minute, about 100 strokes. Let this sponge rest, covered, for 10 minutes.

Stir the salt and mahleb into the sponge. Continuing to stir with the wooden spoon, and still stirring in one direction, gradually add as much additional flour as the dough can incorporate. Then turn it onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it for 8-10 minutes, adding more flour only if necessary. The dough should be smooth and elastic.

Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, turn to coat the dough with oil, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise at room temp until doubled in volume, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Lightly oil two baking sheets and keep them close to your work space. Punch the dough down, turn it out onto a work surface, and cut it into 32 pieces. Lightly flour the work surface, then use your palms to roll each piece of dough into a rope 6-7 inches long. Pinch the ends of each one together to form a circle and place the circles on the oiled baking sheets, leaving at least 1/2 inch between them. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Set the oven racks in the upper part of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F. Brush the kakat with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until nicely browned, about 20 minutes. To ensure the breads bake evenly, rotate the baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time. Transfer the baked breads to racks and cool for about 5 minutes before wrapping in a cloth to keep warm. These are best served warm.

These can be kept in a plastic bag at room temp for a day or two or wrapped airtight and frozen for a month. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temp and crisp in a hot oven before serving.

Baking With Julia

MY NOTES: Very good! Very crisp crust when warm from the oven. Found 2 kinds of mahleb (mahlab) at the Mediterranean Grocery....a tan seed and something that looked like coarse, black coffee grounds. The store owner said to use the black stuff. Ground it in coffee grinder. Cooled breads on a rack. Were hard and rubbery the next day and could not taste or smell the mahlab.

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