Pinca bread

I know it’s not Easter, but I really love this recipe. In Croatia families usually among all the other food, because we really like to eat, serve Pinca bread. It’s sweet and soft bread with raisins in it, or if you prefer without them. It’s usually served with cooked Easter eggs, onions, radishes, cooked ham and a salad we all call French salad, even though it has nothing to do with France and maybe more to do with Russia. Easter for my family is just a day when we all get together and have dinner, for me it’s like a Sunday dinner with a lot of food and chaos in the house with my brother’s and sister’s family over.

Just out of curiosity I know that there are many of you reading from all over the world, so if you have a chance tell me what would you serve for a big family dinner? I would really like to explore new recipes from all around the world and maybe prepare some of them for my family to try. 🙂

Back to Pinca bread, it’s light, simple, easy to make and very tasty. You can eat it as it is, or next to smoked ham, maybe a seasonal salad. Hope you try the recipe and enjoy every slice of Pinca bread!

Preparation: 1 h                                           Cook time: 25 min                                       Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 20 g fresh yeast
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 200 ml milk, warm
• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 egg yolks
• grated lemon zest
• 80 g butter
• 85 g sugar
• 65 g raisins
• 2 tbsp rum
• 1 egg for spreading
• sugar

How to

1. In a small bowl mix together fresh yeast, 1 tbsp of sugar and 100 ml of warm milk and let it rest to double in size. In a second bowl place raisins and pour over 2 tbsp of rum.
2. In a large bowl mix together flour and salt. Add yeast that has doubled in size, melted butter, 100 ml of milk, egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest. Mix the ingredients until the dough starts to form. Add raisins and rum and mix together until you get a firm dough. Place the dough in an oiled up bowl and cover with a plastic foil. Let it rest for 2 h.
3. Place the dough doubled in size on a floured surface and press it using your hands to let the air in. Divide the dough in half and form two balls. Place the dough on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Spread 1/3 of egg over them and let them rest for one hour. Spread the second third of the egg over the dough and let them rest for another hour in a warm place.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spread the last 1/3 of the egg over the dough and large pieces of sugar on top of them. Using a knife cut a cross on top of the dough. Bake in a preheated oven for 25-30 min. Let the Pinca bread cool down covered with a kitchen rag.