Braided plaited yeast, easter rabbits and wreaths: Many of our most traditional easter delicacies are made from a yeast dough. The one exception is the classic Easter lamb, which is made from a mixed dough. Do you ever ask yourselves the reason why this is so? Why there are so many recipes with yeast dough at Easter?
Its origins can be traced back to the predecessor of the Christian Easter: The Jewish Pesach. During this family celebration, it was traditionally forbidden to eat yeasted bread (i.e., bread made from leaven) In this way, the escape of the Israelites from the Egyptian slavery of the Pharaohs was to be celebrated. The unleavened bread is symbolically intended as a reminder of the hurry the Jews had to escape from Egypt.
There simply had not been enough time to wait for the dough of the bread to leaven and rise. So yeast represented an alternative leavening agent to sourdough. If you’re among the amateur bakers dreading yeast dough, why not try the recipe from the Biohotel Grafenast? The chef, Manny da Vinci, shared with us his secrets on how to prepare the delicious Easter bunnies. Particularly important: You must allow time for the yeast dough to rise!
Yeast dough Easter bunnies
Ingredients
- 500 g Flour
- 1 Egg
- 60 g Sugar
- 50 g Butter or margarine
- 250 ml Milk
- 1 cube fresh yeast (42g)
- 1 Egg yolk
- Pinch Salt
- Raisins
Instructions
- Sift the flour into a bowl. Press a hollow in the middle, add salt, egg and 50g sugar. Melt butter and add 250ml milk. Crumble yeast into a small bowl, add 10g sugar and mix.
- Add yeast and lukewarm milk mixture to flour and knead with hands until smooth. Dust with a little flour and let it rise, covered with a kitchen towel, in a warm place for at least 30 minutes. Then knead on a floured surface and let rise again for 15 minutes.
- Divide dough into 8 equal pieces. Form a cone-shaped roll about 12 cm long from each piece, make a deep cut at one pointed end and place 2 pieces inside each other to form a bunny. Press on raisins as eyes. ORDivide dough into 10 pieces, 5 of which should be slightly larger. Roll these into a spiral for the body. Use the smaller ones to form the head with the ears and press on a raisin as an eye.
- Place bunnies on a baking tray lined with baking paper and let rest for 5-10 minutes. Mix egg yolk and 1 tablespoon milk and brush the bunnies with it. Bake in the preheated oven for approx. 20 minutes (200 °C upper-lower heat or 175 °C convection oven).
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