Velikonocni Kruhki: Slovenian Easter Buns
Easter is the celebration of the Ressurection of Christ. The word Easter however was taken from the goddess of spring, Eostre. Sacrifices were made to the Goddess Eostre, whose festival was celebrated in the spring around the time of the Passover.
Here goes the Photo of the Easter Buns to the CLICK: SPRING/AUTUMN hosted by The Jugalbandits.
A lot of tradition have evolved around the holiday of Easter, the egg hunt, the visit of the bunny, the pretty Easter Lilies, the Lamb… Some prepare baskets to take to the church to be blessed by the priests on Holy Saturday. The baskets contains food, such as the colored eggs, meats, cheeses and the Easter Bread that is to be eaten at the Easter dinner. Velikonocni Kruhki (Kruhki = Small breads), are Slovenian Easter Breads which unlike most Easter Breads does not have eggs in the dough. It is a slightly sweet, yeast risen bread, with almond powder, raisins & wonderfully spiced with cardamom. In some ways they are similar to the Hot Cross Buns, except they are not done with a Cross on the top. Like the popular Easter Traditions, these breads are blessed in ZEGEN baskets on the Holy Saturday. Easter is the time spent with Family, & this bread is then treated as a highlight on the Sunday Easter morning.
Sending this for BBD #19 : Spring Country Breads hosted by Cindystar, started by Zorra.
I followed the original recipe (from About.com), except for a very few changes. I reduced the amount of butter & raisins ( there was still a whole lot of raisins in the bread as you can see), & used more lemon zest since I did not have the citron.
Ingredients:
- 2.5 Teaspoons active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup warm milk
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 stick melted and cooled butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 ounces candied citron ( I did not use citron)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- zest of 2 lemons
- 3/4 cup ground (not chopped) almonds
- 1.5 cups dark raisins, soaked in warm water and drained ( You can use any kind of Raisins)
- 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 teaspoon water
Preparation:
Mix yeast, milk and sugar in a small bowl. Stir, cover and let rise for 5-10 minutes until yeast has dissolved.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, place 2 1/2 cups flour, yeast mixture, cardamom, confectioners’ sugar, butter, vanilla and salt. Combine all until it forms a soft dough.
Add the citron, lemon juice, zest, ground almond and raisins, mixing well. Knead for 10-15 minutes by hand or 5-7 minutes by machine. Add the additional flour, as needed. The dough should not be sticky.
Make a large ball, Cover the bowl and let dough rise for 5-6 hours or until doubled. (I made the dough at night & let it sit overnight, baking them early in the morning)
Punch down dough and knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a couple of minutes.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Form 10-12 balls from the dough and place on a baking sheet.
Brush the tops of the dough balls with egg wash. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
As with all breads baked at home, this one filled up the air with the beautiful warm aroma of cardamom & the fresh baked bread. We have been having these with our tea or coffee, but I think they will taste great with a spread of butter too. I loved the citrusy flavor with the warm cardamom. The cute little buns are sent to Susan’s Yeastspotting.
Related Posts:
Christopsomo – Greek Christmas Bread
Poee: Mildly Spiced Goan Bread
Rosemary Pepper Peasant Bread
Tags: blessing of zegen basket, bread baking, Butter, citron, East European Bread, East European Easter Bread, easter, easter bread without egg, Easter tradition, raisin in bread, similar to hot cross buns, slovenian, Slovenian Easter Bread, Slovenian Easter Buns, spiced with cardamom, spring bread, spring country bread, Velikonocni Kruhki, Velikonocni Kruhki recipe, yeast, zegen basket, zest
April 20th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
Lovely looking buns Soma. I didn’t make any this year but I had baked a Greek bread last year, I love it!
April 20th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Those look scrumptious!
April 20th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Love the looks of it and with the raisins good anytime. I bet the kids loved every bite of it.
Loved the pictures of those cute little bunnies.
April 20th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
looks gorgeous and yummy.
April 20th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
awhhh !!! delicious !!!
April 20th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Hi Soma!
Gorgeous buns, they will bright at our pic-nic!
Thanks for participating!
Thanks also for all information about Easter traditions, it’s always interesting to learn how people celebrate this event.
Cheers!
April 20th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Oh..they are so cute n yum..:)..the first pic is one of your bestest pics dear..:)
April 20th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Gorgeous buns Soma..Love raisins in every bite. Lovely and tempting pics.
April 20th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Buns are looking absolutely great…Nice tempting pics..:)
April 20th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Ever since Aparna posted that, I’m waiting to try these. They are amazingly cute
And great info too, Soma!
April 20th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
I love raisins bread only the cinnamon is not my part, the buns are really gorgeous!
April 20th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
there’s something rustic about the buns…
April 20th, 2009 at 11:01 pm
Wow Soma the buns look delicious and i bet they tasted delicious too
April 20th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
The buns look so gorgeous…..and citrus flavored one? wow i am yet to taste something like that….looks so inviting
April 21st, 2009 at 1:56 am
Such cute looking buns Soma! Citrus flavour sounds interesting.
Lemon zest ki rind?
Onek din kichu bake korini … eta try korle bhalo hobe.
April 21st, 2009 at 6:16 am
I love what you wrote about easter. Those buns look delicious!
In Colombia we celebrate Easter, just going to the church on sundays. Before I came to the United States I have never heard of Easter eggs or the Easter bunny, but now I am teaching my son about this tardition.
Thank you for the information!
April 21st, 2009 at 6:30 am
I love buns like these and yours looks so yummy delicious.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:36 am
I loved these too, Soma though I must say yours look so much better than mine.
Aparna, what matters is the taste:-D Since we followed the same recipe, they must have tasted exactly the same:-) I will make these again soon. We all loved it.
April 21st, 2009 at 9:49 am
These buns look very pretty..Yours look so soft and spongy with a nice crust..
April 21st, 2009 at 10:58 am
New name. The information about Easter was informative. I did not know many things about it. The pictures are so life like and captivating. Along with the color, I can pretty much make out the feel and texture of the buns. They are so good.
Also I have to mention that each time I come to your blog, I gaze at all your pictures. You capture them so well. I stare at “Yogurt Mousse with Rose Petal Honey” for the longest, so beautiful
April 21st, 2009 at 11:05 am
i am grabbing some from your picture. since i don’t bake much, it’s easier to just take these goodies from the computer.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:20 am
They look gorgeous and mind blowing
April 21st, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Those do look incredibly delicious, Soma. And quite unique.
April 21st, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I love sweet buns like this, especially with a lot of dried fruit/raisins, etc.
Cheers,
elra
April 21st, 2009 at 7:28 pm
I can never resist any type of bread. The pictures are so professionally done. I want to grab one bun and eat it! May I?
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:47 am
Yum! It’s interesting that you picked a Slovenian recipe. Slovenia is my number 1 travel destination. Apart from the beautiful landscape, Slovenia is famed for its exquisite cuisine.
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:14 am
Hi Soma,
am rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrealy scared …it’s some kind of a phobia I guess…..will muster courage and take the plunge sooner than later. Thanks for the recipe . both the pics look dam neat .
The buns looks superb! haven’t baked buns or bread yet
TC
Suparna, I was once Yeast Phobic too! I am still a baking phobic, but i am getting more comfortable with using yeast.
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:34 pm
Yes, I would take an Easter basket full of these!
April 24th, 2009 at 12:03 am
[...] Velikonocni Kruhki: Slovenian Easter Buns [...]
April 24th, 2009 at 8:02 am
These sound so good with the raisins and almonds!
April 24th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
so delicious looking!!! send them in for click spring. easter is in spring, na?
May 5th, 2009 at 6:55 am
[...] Manchurian, an Indo-Chinese delight! @ Monsoon Spice Velikonocni Kruhki: Slovenian Easter Buns @ eCurry Coconut Water – Purely Nature’s Delight @ Yummy Food Ooze @ Through My Lens Lemony Sage Aioli [...]
May 20th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
I was looking for a similar recipe using some Almond flour, but baked as a round bread then filled with almond custard —? These look wonderful though, thank you!
August 18th, 2009 at 12:04 am
Ur clicks are awesome!