Vánočhka and Bobalki
We're making two distinct Christmas breads with strong provenance in Eastern Europe.
Vánočhka hails from both the Czech Republic and Slovakia and is a traditional Christmas bread. It was first mentioned in 1400 by the Benedictine Monk, Jan of Holešov in his work 'Christmas Eve'
According to his interpretation, the Vánočhka resembles the Christ Child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
By 1600, Vánočhka could only be made by a qualified Guild artisan baker. However, by 1800, it was being made seasonally within most Czech and Slovak homes.
Vánočhka comes from the Czech for Christmas, 'Vánoce, which is also 'Vianoce' in Slovak.
Our second bake, Bobalki is often called Opekanec in Slovak. They are often served as a fasting food on the day before Christmas or as part of a Christmas Eve meal. They are distinctly Slovakian and are often served either sweet with poppy seeds and honey or savoury with sauerkraut and onion. We're making sweet Bobalki which complements the Vánočhka.
So, let's make a start.
Vánočhka
INGREDIENTS
370 gms of average strength bread flour (Use a good All-Purpose or T45 / T55 French flour - about 11% protein)
(I used Foricher T45 Farine de Gruau Protein less than 12%)
160 gms warm semi-skimmed milk
67 gms granulated sugar
85 gms unsalted butter
the yolks of TWO eggs
50 gms raisins
35 gms roughly chopped almonds
the zest of ONE lemon
30 gms spiced rum
If you don't wish to use alcohol, you can add 30 gms of water
3 gms crushed sea salt
1.5 gms ground nutmeg
8 gms instant active yeast
as a topping
a handful of sliced almonds
an eggwash (add a tiny pinch of salt to the eggwash to help it spread evenly)
icing sugar
METHOD
In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and sugar. Add the beaten egg yolks, the tepid milk, rum and the ground nutmeg. Mix thoroughly.
Now mix in the butter and the salt.
When the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated add the nuts and the raisins and just mix for a very short while.
Turn the dough out into a lightly oiled bowl, cover and keep in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume.
When it has doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and then weigh it.
Now, divide it into half and set one half aside.
Take the other half and weigh it. Divide the total by 5. Portion off 3/5ths and the remaining 2/5ths. (i.e. a 60:40 split).
You know have dough for the three layers:
Half - bottom later - divide this into 4 equal pieces
3/5th - middle layer - divide this into 3 equal pieces
2/5th - top layer. - divide this into 2 equal pieces.
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You should now have three 'piles' - one with 4 pieces, one with 3 pieces and one with 2 pieces. Cover what you're not using immediately with a piece of cloth or paper.
BOTTOM LAYER
Form each piece into a small ball.
Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes then roll each piece out into a 'torpedo' and then into a thin strand of equal length.
Braid the four strands together (see Video help below)
MIDDLE LAYER
Form each piece into a small ball.
Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes then roll each piece out into a 'torpedo' and then into a thin strand of equal length.
Braid the three strands together (see Video help below)
TOP LAYER
Form each piece into a small ball.
Let the dough rest for a couple of minutes then roll each piece out into a 'torpedo' and then into a thin strand of equal length.
Twist the two strands together.
ASSEMBLING
Take the bottom layer and place it on a prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten the top of the braid and moisten with the egg wash.
Place the middle strand on the top of the bottom layer and gently tuck the ends under the bottom layer. Gently flatten the top of the middle layer and moisten with the egg wash.
Place the top layer on top of the middle layer and gently tuck the ends under the middle layer.
It might help to proof the dough pinning the layers together using sticks to help keep the dough in place. The challenge is to try and avoid it falling over during baking. The sticks help.
Cover the Vánočhka with a cloth and leave in a warm place for an hour or until it has risen and is quite 'jiggly'.
Brush all sides and top with egg wash and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
Preheat the oven to 200⁰C (190⁰C Fan) and bake for ten minutes.
Drop the temperature to 165⁰C and bake for a further 20 minutes and then a further 10 minutes at 180⁰C - until a skewer comes out of the dough cleanly and 'dry'.
If the top of the dough starts to colour too quickly, cover the surface loosely with aluminium foil.
Place the Vánočhka on a cooling rack and smear the top with butter to increase the glaze.
When the bread has thoroughly cooled, put the icing sugar into a sieve and sprinkle it over the surface of the bread.
The loaf will last a couple of days if stored in an airtight container. However, it also freezes well and should be thawed at room temperature.
VIDEO HELP
How to braid 3-strand dough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB4NWC9SNBY
How to braid 4-strand dough
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlNOCYiKV6I
And from my taste testers:
Bobalki
And here's the translation I promised you!
(Jan of Holešov - 15th century)
The customs that take place on the Vigil (and on the Nativity of Christ) are:
There are many customs in the Nativity of Christ. The first is a very honorable one, because on the eve of the Nativity of our Lord, the faithful Christians fast until the star, that is, until the evening of the day, when the star already appears to be seen or could appear if the day were clear.
And they do this as a sign, like the holy magi seeing the star, about which the priest of Midian and the prophet of the Gentiles, namely Balaam, had prophesied to them, saying: A star will arise from Jacob and a man will arise from Israel and will rule over all the nations, Numbers 24o. From that time they waited for the same star for a long time, not thinking it was a box, but certain of its significance, with great glory and a most abundant company, with gifts, neither eating nor drinking nor sleeping, the star leading them in the air and continually making the day for them by its light beyond Jerusalem. They came to Bethlehem and found the born king of the Jews, a child with Mary his mother, and falling down they worshiped him and offered him gifts, as it is written in Matthew 20. And so in the Life of the Three Kings, chapters 2o, 5o, and 8o.
Thus let the faithful fast unto the star, that they may merit the same king born in our hearts by grace, who is the house of the living bread, to find him worthily and to acknowledge him by faith, and offer him the gold of love, the frankincense of prayer, and the myrrh of chastisement and chastisement by restraint.
food and drink.
But alas, in all things that are done for the praise of God, the devil always wants to have his part. For where the idols of Christ fast even to the star, and by this moderately refreshing their bodies, they sleep for a little while, and rising to the morning watch, like the three kings, and praise; there the servants of the devil in such a solemn vigil rise up and drown themselves, and some not only to the evening star, but even to the morning star to praise they watch the devils playing at checkers, testing the luck of the checkers sooner than later in the following year. And when it is struck in the morning, the good ones rise there, but then those chess players first lay down, already weakened in the nature of their bodies, and sleep until sunrise, neglecting many masses to the grave prejudice of their souls and the offense of their neighbors. Therefore, if they wanted to find true fortune, then they would have to put their bad habits behind them, because the three kings did not play chess, but with devotion and contrition of heart and longing, they sought him who is fortune, the happiness and salvation of all, and so they found it. from them true fortune, that is, honor, safety, etc. Psalm: He loved a curse, and it will come to him; he did not want a blessing, and it will be removed from him, etc. It is a custom 2a that the vigil of the Nativity of Christ is called the most generous to the whole world. Never since the beginning of the world, never have the heavens been opened in such great generosity to this world as at this time, as if in its mornings we sing, saying: Today, throughout the whole world, the heavens have become sweet-flowing, because God the Father, out of his immense generosity, at this time has given the salvation of his most beloved in the world A son, than whom nothing is sweeter and more precious. Amos had prophesied this in the last chapter, saying: In that day the mountains will drop sweetness, that is, in the person of the Trinity they will drop the divinity in the person of the Son.
For this generosity Ysaie chapter 45o | he prayed, saying: Surely the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the dew of heaven from above, that is one of you who is to be sent, and the clouds rain the righteous, that is, the angels will announce the righteous Christ through Gabriel, and the earth, that is, the Virgin Mary, be opened by agreement to receive him and sprout the savior of the world sooner. In this generosity, God the Father not only gave his Son to the world, but also all things with him, as St. Paul says in Romans 80: "God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how else did he not give us all things with him?" Hence John III: God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that all who believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For he who was born from the eternal was given to the world by a temporal birth from the Father, therefore it is sung in the mass: A child is born to us and a son is given to us. Behold, how great a bounty was given to the world at this festival. His vigil, therefore, is deservedly called by this name, the generous late one.
Hence the faithful Christians become generous at that late hour more than at any other time in reverence and memory of that heavenly bounty, because there is not so poor a family man who does not at this late hour give generous consolation to his family. If he cannot do more, at least he makes more light in his house, and this in memory of the fact that the father of the world's most prosperous families, that is, God, out of his great bounty at this sacred time, made more light for his family, that is, for the people of this world sitting in the darkness of error. Therefore Isaiah said in the 9th chapter: The people who walked in darkness saw a great light. And in the three days of his death, to the other of his family, that is, to the souls existing in the limbo of their fathers, he showed that light by illuminating their darkness, as by the same authority Isaiah | He had said: For those who dwell in the region of the shadow of death, light has arisen for him.
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