Last weekend was busy with Christmas baking for lots of us! Here is my Vanocka. I used the recipe and method from http://leake-family.com/2008/12/vanocka but added the traditional 1teaspoon nutmeg, finely grated rind of 1 lemon, 1 cup raisins and a scattering of flaked almonds on top. It's not a sourdough recipe, so I had to bake a couronne and a couple of batards to get my sourdough fix for the weekend. The plaiting is lots of fun and the website has a great youtube video embedded in it so you can practice before having to plait with 4 strands (bottom layer)! The skewers in the final construction hold the layers steady as the dough completes its final rise and then bakes.
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Do you have a photo of it baked? it looks stunning!
Thank you for your comments! I'm not very good with posting photos I've discovered. I'll try this! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=182836011726524&set=a.18136645520...
Cheers
Truely B E A U T I F U L!! So glad I asked for the after shot! Thanks :o)
K.
Happiness is making bread!
Hi! I'm Anna -- the person who posted the blog entry about my mom's Vanocka at the Leake Family Website. Your bread looks soooo gorgeous -- just like my mom's!! :)
Hi Anna,
Isn't the internet an extraordinary thing? I'd been looking for good recipes for ages and stumbled across yours - so helpful. It was a delicious Vanocka indeed. Your instructions were so clear and the video was the best. I had never made a 4 stranded plait before, so I had to sit down with my coloured pencils and the computer and kept stopping it frame by frame and drawing the movement of each strand to get it in just the right place. When I came to actually do it, I could follow my colour coded diagram and do it without hesitation! I would have preferred, however, to have learnt how to braid from your mum.
Cheers