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Cranberry swirl loaf
The stores are starting to fill with cranberries around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love fresh picked cranberries. The types of cranberries growing in Slovakia are slightly different, they are smaller and you can find them mainly up in the mountains. But I found that cranberries here are really delicious too. The combination of the sweet and sour is just perfect for any Fall or Winter dessert. The social media are bursting with cranberry desserts during this time of the year. Cranberry tart? Yes. Cranberry quick bread? Sure. Cranberry swirl loaf? Even better. And what if it’s sourdough cranberry swirl loaf? Perfect. I used my recipe for sourdough babka. For a…
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Weckmann and Krampus
It’s a few days after St. Martin’s feast. I mentioned in my previous post that St. Martin’s day was a celebration of the end of the harvesting season. In the Middle Ages and later, during this part of the year, some of the workers and servants ended their jobs, got their payments and traveled home for the Winter (or traveled with their lords to the winter states, when we are talking about feudalism era). So the St. Martin’s feast, later during the month St. Catherine’s feast and the St. Nicolas Day were the last days when seasonal workers were together and could celebrate the Harvest. In some parts of Europe,…
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St. Martin’s rolls – horseshoes
There are several pre-Advent traditions in Europe. Some of them are really old and from the pre-christian times. Feast of St. Martin is one of them. During ancient Greek and Rome it was the celebration of the god Bacchus/Dionysos. Celebration of the harvest, young wine and preparation for the Winter. During middle ages and christianization it took a more religious patern. There are several myths and legends bound with the person of St. Martin. Like the one with geese and with his cloak. Because he was a Roman soldier – horseman, his typical symbol are horseshoes (although some ethnologists think that they are actually the horns of the god Bacchus).…
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Pan de Muerto
Do you love the spooky season around the Halloween? I do! But there was no really pure Halloween spirit in Slovakia when I was a kid. During the Cold war and socialism era some of the old traditions had vanished. What was normal before WWI and WWII was considered as western traditions and some were deliberately forgotten. At least we always carved some pumpkins and light the candles on graveyards and cemeteries. Fortunately after the Velvet revolution some of the old traditions started returning slowly. One of the really old traditions is baking soul cakes – “dušičky” – small yeasted buns shaped like bones, or buns filled with poppy seeds…
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Sourdough brioche pumpkins
With the Fall starts the pumpkin season. Here in the States that means not just the pumpkins but of course the pumpkin spice too. It reminds me of the spice we use for soft gingerbread and gingerbread cake – “perník” in Slovakia. Personally I love this season from beginning of September to January.Pumpkin breads with pumpkin puree are a hit lately, but what about sweet brioche with spices? When I looked for the recipe a few years ago, I found inspiration on mydailysourdough, but it was still more bread than brioche with less sugar. But the image of sweet pumpkin brioche served with something warm like hot cocoa or tea…
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Sourdough Mexican coffee buns
Once again we decided to bake something nice together. Me and my friends Liduš and Zuzka prepared a little challenge for you. – #kavove_kolace. Today’s speciality are Rotiboys, Pappa Roti, Kopi Roti or Mexican coffee buns. Sweet buttery buns with coffee crust on top. Here is my version with tangzhong and pumpkin spice coffee crust..well, the Fall is almost knocking on the door, so little bit of PSL reminder never hurts😁. I used sourdough, but if you like to use c. yeast or stiff starter Liduš and Zuzka prepared their recipes too (links are at the bottom of the page). Ingredients for the dough (20 buns):100g active wheat starter (white/bread…
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Blueberry kolach with streusel
Traditional fruit kolach from Central Europe
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Sourdough bagels with molasses
Sourdough version of bagels with little a touch of molasses
