While searching the web I found these Croatian Easter dolls, i.e. primorski uskrsnje bebe — a particular Croatian enriched bread shaped like a newborn baby, typical of the Easter period. It is a brioche-type enriched dough, braided and typical of the Croatian coastal areas, such as Istria and Primorje, which wraps a colored hard-boiled egg, giving the impression of a little baby!
My babies are chubby but I decided to publish them on the blog anyway because it is a cute gift idea for the upcoming Easter holidays and an activity idea to do with the kids at home.
I made half of the batch indicated below because there are only two of us at home and I don’t want to waste food at all, and I didn’t really know who to gift these sweet leavened dolls with an egg head and braided body to.
TO COLOR THE EGGS..for transparency: even though I used loads of dye they only turned slightly pink and I wanted them redder! Anyway, I put water, fine salt and red liquid dye in a saucepan and, when boiling, I gently put the eggs in and let them simmer for 15 minutes. I let them cool in the water and once cold I use them to make the little faces of the Croatian leavened Easter dolls.
IT’S BETTER TO COLOR THEM WITH NATURAL COLORS
beet/spinach/saffron/coffee for example!!!
I opened a recipes channel free and open to everyone on WhatsApp — no notifications and no sound — which you can join by clicking the link here https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaHbGIn9cDDig7Cw2x0F and every day you will be able to read one sweet and one savory recipe!
Here are other sweet leavened recipes like:
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Cost: Budget
- Rest time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking time: 25 Minutes
- Portions: 13 pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Croatian
- Seasonality: Easter
Ingredients
- 4 cups 00 flour (all-purpose) (I personally used one third Manitoba flour (total ~500 g / 17.6 oz))
- 2 eggs (small)
- 1 1/4 cups milk (warm (~300 ml / 10 fl oz))
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 1 packet instant dry yeast (i.e. 7 g (about 2 1/4 tsp))
- 2 1/2 tbsp wildflower honey
- 2 tbsp cornseed oil (or another vegetable oil (~30 g / 1 fl oz))
- to taste lemon (zest only)
- 1 egg
- as needed coarse sugar (pearl sugar)
Tools
- Stand Mixers
- Pastry Wheels & Scrapers
- Brushes
- Baking Trays
- Parchment Paper
FOR THE PREPARATION OF CROATIAN EASTER DOLLS
So let’s start… Mix the flour (00 only or a mix — MAYBE 1/3 Manitoba) in the bowl of the stand mixer (or another bowl if you work by hand).
In a bowl, pre-mix the milk with the honey, the seed oil, the eggs and the grated zest of an organic lemon, then pour the mix into the stand mixer at low speed.
Mix the ingredients at low speed, then add the fine salt.
Continue working with the dough hook for 15/20 minutes until the dough pulls away from the sides and forms a well-combined ball. Cover and let it rise, covered and away from heat sources, for an hour and a half to two hours: it should double in volume!
When the dough has doubled, divide it into 12/13 equal parts (this obviously depends on the size of the dolls or buns you want to make) and start making the Croatian Easter dolls. I am also publishing a drawing made by my son on my phone which maybe helps explain how to do it …
For each small loaf obtained from dividing the total dough, take one long piece that will wrap the colored egg (I explained above how to color the eggs) and will let two ends of the braid hang down.
In the middle there will be a shorter stick that will be the 3rd strand so you can braid it like the body of the soft sweet Croatian Easter doll.
Continue until the dough is used up and place the sweet leavened dolls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Cover with cling film and let rise for about 30 minutes. After the second rest, beat the egg and brush it over the Croatian Easter dolls and then sprinkle them with pearl sugar.
Now all that’s left is to bake in a preheated oven at 356°F until they are evenly browned, about 20 minutes or a little more — but clearly check according to your own oven characteristics.
Once cool, use an edible marker to draw the facial features and… we’re ready to enjoy these Croatian leavened Easter sweets.
SOURCE: Blog That’s amore
I remind you that at the top, where you see the blog menu, there is a magnifying glass 🔍 that will allow you, by entering an ingredient or a recipe title, to find all the preparations that contain that title or ingredient — I hope you find recipes you like among them!
