Food & Wine
Croatian sweet Easter bread
Take a gastronomic journey to sun-drenched Croatia, with this recipe from Barbara Unković’s The Adriatic Kitchen, a rustic cookbook celebrating the best of slow cooking traditions.
Known in Croatia as sirnica, this Easter treat is similar to the traditional Italian sweet bread, Panettone. The addition of citrus zest, crystallised peel and allspice make this bread a special indulgence.
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon fresh yeast, crumbled
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 5 tablespoons of butter
- 4 cups of plain flour, sifted
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup crystallised lemon peel
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- Milk to brush
- Limoncello to glaze
- Vanilla sugar
Method:
- In a small bowl, dissolve the teaspoon of sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the water. Set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes until frothy.
- Place milk and butter in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter melts. Transfer to a large bowl and allow to cool until lukewarm. Stir in the frothy yeast mixture.
- Using a wooden spoon, beat in one cup of sifted flour, followed by the sugar and salt. Cover with plastic food wrap and leave in a warm place until bubbly (about 20-25 minutes).
- Mix the beaten egg yolks and the remaining sifted flour into the yeast mixture. Add the crystallised peel, lemon and orange zest, allspice and nutmeg. Mix to a soft dough using a knife. The dough must be very soft and almost difficult to handle. It may not be necessary to use all the four.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board. Knead for 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic.
- Shape the dough into a ball and coat with olive oil. Place an oiled bowl and cover with a baking cloth or clean tea towel. Leave to rise in a warm place for 70-90 minutes, until almost doubled in size.
- Flatten the dough and knead for a minute on a lightly floured work surface. Shape into a ball, with the spine or seam on the underside. Cover with olive oil and place in a deep, oiled, 20-centimetre round cake tin. If the tin is too shallow, line the sides with baking paper extending it at least two centimetres above the rim of the tin.
- Score the top of the dough with three long dep cuts intersecting at the centre. The cuts need to be quite deep (at least halfway through the loaf) to allow the dough to rise up from the centre to form the traditional crests of Sirnica. Make the cuts swiftly and cleanly. Do not drag or pull the dough.
- Leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C.
- Brush the top of the dough with milk.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 170°C and bake for 20-30 more minutes until bread sounds hollow when tapped and a metal skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
- Remove from the oven. Brush the top of the loaf generously with limoncello and sprinkle with vanilla sugar while hot. Leave in tin for 10 mintues beore transferring to a cooling rack.
- Serve at room temperature.
The Adriatic Kitchen is available from www.exislepublishing.com.au and wherever good books are sold. Image credit: Tonia Hedley.