Easter Pinca Bread

Pinca is a traditional Croatian sweet bread that's eaten to celebrate the end of Lent, because it’s commonly a period of abstinence from indulgences like chocolate, meat, eggs or buttery, glutinous bread during the 40 days of Lent. Together with Easter eggs, pinca has remained the centrepiece of the family Easter breakfast in Croatian households.

It is commonly prepared on Holy Saturday, taken to church to be blessed and then enjoyed on Sunday for Easter breakfast along with hard-boiled eggs, cooked ham and horseradish.

Pinca first came to Croatia via Italy, taking inspiration from their version, known as pinza. This means "nippers or pliers" in Italian, referring to how the loaf is snipped (or pinched) to create the cross design on top. The wealthy Republic of Venice once controlled much of the Croatian coast, so many Italian culinary traditions passed to the country through this relationship.

It derives its distinct yellow color from the numerous egg yolks used in its preparation. It is also enriched with butter, lard and sugar, giving it similarities with other enriched breads such as brioche and challah.

In Croatia, every household has its own family recipe for pinca so there are plenty of variations for you to try. To make your own you'll need only a few ingredients, but plenty of time and patience. Your pinca will require a good amount of kneading, as forming the gluten structure takes more time than with lean doughs, so sleeve up.

With a mixer with dough hooks combine flour, instant dry yeast, sugar, vanilla sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, room temperature lard and butter.

Whisk together milks, eggs and 3 egg yolks. Then, while mixing slowly add in the mix. Add the rum and grated orange and lemon peel. Keep kneading the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.

Place the dough into a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, then let it proof and double in size.

Knead the dough again for at least 10 minutes on a floured surface, then divide into 2 or 3 parts.

Shape the doughs into balls and place them on a lined baking sheet, cover it again and let rise for an hour in warm place.

With clean kitchen scissors make 2 pinches on the centres of each one to resemble a cross. Brush the doughs with one beaten egg yolk.

Sprinkle with a little bit of pearl sugar or almond flakes, then bake in a preheated oven at 160°C/320°F for 30 minutes.

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Easter Pinca Bread

Yield: 12

Ingredients

• All purpose flour - 500 g
• Instant dry yeast - 10 g
• Butter - 50 g
• Lard - 50 g
• Granulated sugar - 60 g
• Vanilla sugar - 2 teaspoons
• Eggs - 2
• Egg yolks - 4
• Rum - 1 + 1/2 tablespoon
• Pinca flavouring - 2 drops (optional)
• Milk - 100 ml
• Orange peel - 1 teaspoon
• Lemon peel - 1 teaspoon

Instructions

1. With a mixer with dough hooks combine flour, instant dry yeast, sugar, vanilla sugar, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, room temperature lard and butter.
2. Whisk together milks, eggs and 3 egg yolks. Then, while mixing slowly add in the mix. Add the rum and grated orange and lemon peel. Keep kneading the dough for about 5-6 minutes. Then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
3. Place the dough into a bowl, cover with a kitchen towel, then let it proof and double in size.
4. Knead the dough again for at least 10 minutes on a floured surface, then divide into 2 or 3 parts.
5. Shape the doughs into balls and place them on a lined baking sheet, cover it again and let rise for an hour in warm place.
6. With clean kitchen scissors make 2 pinches on the centres of each one to resemble a cross. Brush the doughs with one beaten egg yolk.
7. Sprinkle with a little bit of pearl sugar or almond flakes, then bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 30 minutes.