Easter is approaching with lightning speed. At least it seems like that
to me. We just started the year and already we are through with carnival
and lent. Maybe it is ageing which gives the impression that time is
passing ever more quickly. When I was a child, a year appeared to be
this incredible long amount of time. Days and days and days…Nowadays, a
year looks like a drop in the ocean of eternity to me.
Easter confronts all of us with the fact of death and resurrection.
Consequently, many Easter traditions deal with the issues of fertility
and birth. Like always, food plays an essential role in most traditions,
especially eggs and bread. In 2011, my Easter newsletter brought you
recipes for chocolate Easter eggs which you can easily make at home.
This year, I am focussing on Easter bread. In my family, the breakfast
on Easter Sunday was a special feast with hot smoked ham, Easter bread
and many coloured eggs. The Easter bread of my childhood days was a
braided round made from rich yeast dough.
Although I like this kind of bread, I wanted to present a more
contemporary Easter bread to you. So I set out to create my own kind
with plenty of fibre provided by whole wheat flour, flax seeds and
sesame. My son’s first reaction was asking me to make this bread all the
time so he can eat it every day. Is there a better compliment?
Wishing you a joyful Easter and happy cooking, always!
Kornelia Santoro with family
Contemporary Easter Bread
Ingredients (for four Easter bread rings):
6 cups whole wheat flour
250 grams flax seeds
50 grams sesame
2 packets dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 eggs
1 cup cold pressed coconut oil
1 egg yolk
salt
Butter or oil to grease the cookie sheet
Method:
Pour one glass of water into a small pot, add two tablespoons sugar and
heat it up. When the water is hot, remove the heat.
Dissolve the dry yeast in the warm water. Be careful that the water is
not too hot. Yeast dies at temperatures higher than 60 degrees Celsius.
Wait until the yeast solution starts to form bubbles. This should happen
after five minutes the latest. If you wait in vain, your yeast is dead
and you have to restart the process with fresh packets of dry yeast.
Place the flour, the flax seeds and the sesame into a big bowl. Mix them
well with a spoon and dig a hole in the middle. Pour the yeast solution
which has formed bubbles into the middle of the flour. Cover with loose
flour from the bowl and wait until the flour cover shows cracks.
Now it is time to knead the dough well. Add one tablespoon of salt and
start combining the yeast solution and the flour. You might need to add
some more water to obtain pliable dough which is moist but not sticky.
Knead the dough for at least five minutes. This activates the gluten in
the flour.
Cover the dough with a moist cloth and let it rest for half an hour in a
warm place.
When it has considerably risen, divide the dough into four equal pieces.
Prepare a cookie sheet by spreading grease over it. I use a silicone
sheet which is very convenient.
Divide each piece of dough into two equal pieces and roll them out about
one foot long (33 centimetres or so). Press the ends together at one
side and turn the rolls around each other. That gives a braided
impression. Tuck the ends together and form a round, braided bread.
There should be a hole in the middle big enough to hold one egg. If you
are not sure, try if an egg fits inside.
Make four braided Easter breads and place them on the cookie sheet. Put
an egg yolk into a cup, add a pinch of salt und whisk it up. Cover the
Easter breads with the egg yolk. A cooking brush is the perfect tool for
this. The egg wash gives a nice, golden shine to the Easter bread.
Bake the Easter breads about 35 minutes at 190 degrees Celsius. Present
them with a coloured, hard boiled egg in the middle.
Rise and shine
Easter bread was not invented by Christians. This custom survived from
ancient pagan times. The word Easter itself evolved from Eostre, the
name of the Anglo-Saxon goddess of light and spring. Special dishes were
cooked in her honour to endow the year with fertility. Between them was
a small, spiced bun, the forerunner of the English version of Easter
bread, the hot cross bun.
Ancient Egyptians offered small cakes to the goddess of the moon, marked
with ox horns. In ancient Greece , a similar sacred bread carried the
name ‘bous’ meaning ox. The word bun is supposed to derive from this
word. Christians later developed their own versions of bread symbolising
birth, rebirth and fertility. For example, in Italy Easter bread takes
the form of a dove.
According to Peter Reinhart, author of Artisan Breads Every Day, there
are common features found in Easter breads of all cultures. First of all
they are made with a leavening agent, most of the times yeast. The
rising of the dough reflects Jesus Christ rising from the tomb. Eggs
inside the dough and served with the bread, symbolize fertility. The
golden shine of egg wash represents gold, associated with resurrection.
Nuts and seeds add hints of rebirth and fertility. German Easter Bread
is usually braided from three strands evoking the Holy Trinity of the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
I took the liberty to reduce my Easter Bread to two strands. My
motivation was simple: it is a lot easier to prepare.
www.mediterraneancooking.in
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