Serbian cesnica Bread “ Christmas Bread”
Overview:
also known as bozicni kolac, Christmas bread or money bread, is very subjective. In some families, it is made without eggs or dairy (and probably served for the fasting meal on Christmas Eve - badnje vece, others make a sweeter version with raisins, and yet others use strudel dough and nuts to make something akin to baklava. What remains universal is the silver coin that is baked inside. Most hosts tear the cesnica into as many pieces as there are guests plus one extra for the polozajnik. Whoever gets the coin will be lucky for the entire year. This "peasant-style" recipe comes from Pattee Russell-Curry of California. It was handed down to her by a cousin, Nedja Vignevic Jacobs (deceased), whose mother and sisters emigrated to the McKeesport/Aliquippa, Pa., areas from Ponikve in the former Yugoslavia. (Barbara Rolek). (1)
also known as bozicni kolac, Christmas bread or money bread, is very subjective. In some families, it is made without eggs or dairy (and probably served for the fasting meal on Christmas Eve - badnje vece, others make a sweeter version with raisins, and yet others use strudel dough and nuts to make something akin to baklava. What remains universal is the silver coin that is baked inside. Most hosts tear the cesnica into as many pieces as there are guests plus one extra for the polozajnik. Whoever gets the coin will be lucky for the entire year. This "peasant-style" recipe comes from Pattee Russell-Curry of California. It was handed down to her by a cousin, Nedja Vignevic Jacobs (deceased), whose mother and sisters emigrated to the McKeesport/Aliquippa, Pa., areas from Ponikve in the former Yugoslavia. (Barbara Rolek). (1)
How to make it:
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Rising time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours, 55 minutes
Ingredients:
The participation:
The preparation of this bread may be accompanied by various rules and rituals. A coin is often put into the dough during the kneading; other small objects may also be inserted. At the beginning of Christmas dinner, the česnica is rotated three times counterclockwise, before being broken among the family members. The person who finds the coin in his piece of the bread will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year. The česnica was used in folk magic for divining or influencing the amount of crops.(3)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Rising time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours, 55 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cups or more all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 heaping soup spoon vegetable shortening
- In a large bowl, mix yeast with warm water and shortening until yeast is dissolved. Add salt and flour and mix until the dough comes away from your hands and cleans the bowl, adding more flour as necessary.
- Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rise again until doubled.
- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until shiny. Add a silver coin that has been sterilized in boiling water for 3 minutes (Don't use a copper coin because it will turn the dough green.) and knead again, making sure the coin doesn't pop out.
- Shape into a round and place on a greased cookie sheet. Make an indentation with the top of a glass in center. Then make 4 slight slits radiating from the center with symbols for wheat, rice, oats and rye to ensure a good harvest that year. Let rise until almost doubled.
- Bake about 40 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 190 degrees. Cool on a wire rack. (2)
The participation:
The preparation of this bread may be accompanied by various rules and rituals. A coin is often put into the dough during the kneading; other small objects may also be inserted. At the beginning of Christmas dinner, the česnica is rotated three times counterclockwise, before being broken among the family members. The person who finds the coin in his piece of the bread will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year. The česnica was used in folk magic for divining or influencing the amount of crops.(3)
References:
(1)
Rolek, B. (2011). Serbian Cesnica or Christmas Bread. Retrieved from:
http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/b/2011/12/29/serbian-cesnica-or-christmas-bread.htm
(2) Rolek, B. (2011). Serbian Cesnica or Christmas Bread. Retrieved from: http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/b/2011/12/29/serbian-cesnica-or-christmas-bread.htm
(3) Česnica, Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesnica
(2) Rolek, B. (2011). Serbian Cesnica or Christmas Bread. Retrieved from: http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/b/2011/12/29/serbian-cesnica-or-christmas-bread.htm
(3) Česnica, Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%8Cesnica