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Croatian sweet Easter bread ‘Pinca’

March 31, 2015 By travellingoven 4 Comments

Easter and memories…

There are two things that immediately come to my mind when I think of Easter: Croatian sweet Easter bread we call “Pinca” and decorated eggs dyed using the red onions skins. So that’s why I decided those two to be my blog posts for this week before Easter.
Living abroad as an expat means you always get this mix of different feelings for holidays, you are happy and grateful for all the new experiences that this way of life offers but at the same time you are nostalgic and even sad at times, you miss home and your family and friends more on those special days.

My way of handling is to bring some of those memories and traditions with me wherever I am and somehow when my home smells of the sweet bread my mum bakes for Easter or vanilla cookies that we would bake together in Christmas time or when my fingers are covered with flour when baking a traditional cake my grandmother would bake for those special occasions, my heart finds peace and I feel like home is here, with me, wherever I might be…
That is a reason why I love food so much, it’s all the memories and stories we connect we certain foods and just a smell or a process of making it can bring us back in time instantly.

What is ‘Pinca’?

“Pinca”, slightly sweet bread with a hint of lemon and orange zest, traditionally is brought to the Church in the basket (together with eggs) to be blessed by the priest before being eaten for Easter breakfast. Other traditional food that we eat in Croatia on this special day are spring onions, radishes, cooked ham with horseradish sauce and of course eggs. What do you eat in your country for Easter? I would love to know!

POST UPDATED WITH NEW PHOTOS IN 2020

Easter bread

Easter bread

Hope you’ll try it out, it’s not difficult at all I promise and let me know if you do! 🙂

Recipe in English:

Croatian sweet Easter bread "Pinca"
 
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Recipe type: Croatian traditional cuisine
Serves: 1 larger or 2 smaller Pinca
Ingredients
  • 500 g (4 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 1 sachet dry yeast (1 sachet = 7g = 1.5 teaspoons)
  • 100 g (just under ½ cup) unsalted butter
  • 100 g (1/2 cup) sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 200 ml (1 cup + 2 tbsp) warm milk ( I used oat milk)
  • 1 lemon or orange zest, grated (organic, untreated)
  • 1 tablespoons rakija (Croatian type of grappa, you can use Italian grappa or rum)
  • pinch of salt
  • For glaze: 1 egg whisked + 1 or 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • Note: these are the quantities for one larger Pinca or two smaller
Preparation
  1. In a large mixing bowl combine flour and dry yeast.
  2. Mix in the butter (soften at room temperature) and then add sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, grated orange or lemon zest, rakija (grappa or rum) and a pinch of salt.
  3. Slowly add warm milk and combine kneading until the dough forms. Dough should be compact with a relatively smooth surface.
  4. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place at least 2-3 hours until it doubles in size.
  5. After that knead it for a minute or two, form a ball if making one larger Pinca or two balls if making two smaller Pinca. Put dough ball on a tray lined with baking (parchment) paper and let rise for at least another hour.
  6. Once dough is well risen, make three deep cuts on the upper side of Pinca, from the centre towards the edge down in three directions. Glaze with a mixture of whisked egg and a little bit of granulated sugar.
  7. Bake in the oven previously heated to 180 C (356 F) for about 35-45 minutes. I suggest covering with a baking paper when they get golden brown on top.
  8. Remove from the oven, cover with kitchen cloth and let it cool. Enjoy!
  9. NOTE: This baking time is if you are baking one larger Pinca. If you divided the dough in two and are making two smaller ones, then you need to adjust the baking time and reduce it accordingly.
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Recipe in Croatian / Recept na hrvatskom:
Pinca, slatki Uskrsni kruh
 
Save Print
Serves: 1 veca Pinca ili 2 manje
Ingredients
  • SASTOJCI:
  • 500 g glatkog psenicnog brasna
  • 1 vrecica suhog kvasca (7 g)
  • 100 g maslaca, na sobnoj temepraturi
  • 100 g secera
  • 1 zlicica vanilin ekstrakta (ili 1 vanilin secer)
  • 3 zumanjka
  • 200 ml mlijeka, toplog (ja koristim zobeno mlijeko)
  • naribana korica 1 limuna ili narance (neprskanog)
  • 1 zlica rakije
  • prstohvat soli
  • Za premazivanje: 1 jaje (razmuceno) + 1 ili 2 zlice secera
  • Napomena: ovo su kolicine za jednu vecu Pincu ili dvije manje
Preparation
  1. PRIPREMA:
  2. U vecoj posudi pomijesajte brasno i suhi kvasac.
  3. Umijesajte kockice maslaca (na sobnoj temperaturi), izradite prstima i dodajte secer, zumanjke, vanilin ekstrakt (ili vanilin secer), naribanu koricu limuna ili narance, rakiju i sol, dobro promijesajte.
  4. Ulijevajte pomalo toplo mlijeko i rukama umijesite (relativno) glatko tijesto.
  5. Pokrijte kuglu tijesta kuhinjskom krpom i ostavite na toplom mjestu da se dize barem 3 sata.
  6. Nakon toga, mijesite jos minutu-dvije, oblikujte kuglu i polozite na pripremljeni pekac (oblozen papirom za pecenje). Ostavite da se dize jos jedan sat.
  7. Kad se tijesto dovoljno diglo, napravite ostrim nozem rez na vrhu od centra u tri smjera.
  8. Premazite Pincu razmucenim jajetom i posipajte secerom.
  9. Pecite u prethodno zagrijanoj pecnici na 180 C oko 35-45 min (ovisi o pecnici). Kad Pinca na vrhu dobije zlatnu boju, pokrijte je papirom za pecenje.
  10. Izvadite iz pecnice, pokrijte kuhinjskom krpom i ostavite da se ohladi. Dobar tek!
  11. NAPOMENA: Ovo vrijeme pecenja je ako pecete jednu vecu Pincu (kao sto je ova na fotografijama). Ako pecete dvije manje, vrijeme pecenja je potrebno prilagoditi tj. smanjiti.
3.5.3229

 

Easter bread

Easter bread

*Thank you so much for being here, that makes me so happy! You can also follow my Travelling oven on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, as well as sign up to receive new blog posts via email and subscribe to my newsletter. 

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Filed Under: bread Tagged With: bread, croatian, Croatian bread, easter, Easter bread, pinca, sweet, sweet bread, tradition

Previous Post: « Brown butter plum upside down cake
Next Post: Naturally dyed Easter eggs »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pang @circahappy says

    March 31, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    I have never heard of ‘Pinca,” but for the look of it, I am sure I’ll like it so much. Yummy 🙂

    Reply
    • travellingoven says

      March 31, 2015 at 3:15 pm

      I cannot imagine Easter without it but it can be eaten any time, it’s very delicious! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Miriam says

    May 2, 2015 at 12:03 pm

    Beautiful images, Lili, and I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on new places vs memories, it is so true, I agree with you, food is an excellent way to bring back and relish all the good from the past, lovely work!

    Reply
    • travellingoven says

      May 3, 2015 at 12:28 pm

      Thank you Miriam! You also moved away from your country so you can understand very well what I’m talking about!

      Reply

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First things first. Why Travelling oven you’re wondering? Well, when this blog was created I had been living as an expat for about 8 years in beautiful countries like Scotland, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Turkey...READ MORE...

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Shooting the cookbook and spending my work days cr Shooting the cookbook and spending my work days creating, doing what I love and sharing the same energy and passion with its author @andreapisac has been one of the highlights of this otherwise very difficult year for me. Very grateful that life sometimes when you are at low point sends you people who lift you up and inspire you. 
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In Split, they’re called bobići, while in Šibenik, you’ll hear favete — but whatever the name, they’re closest to the Italian fave dei morti cookies. Made from almonds, egg whites, sugar, a dash of Maraschino, and a hint of lemon zest, they’re baked to soft, golden perfection. Perfect with a cup of coffee or even a little rakija to balance the sweetness! 
This recipe will be in the upcoming cookbook written by @andreapisac and shot by me, Croatian Desserts Vol. 2, currently in the making! ✨ Stay tuned!
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The reason I’m a little quiet here lately is bec The reason I’m a little quiet here lately is because I’m busy working with the talented cookbook author @andreapisac photographing her new cookbook Croatian desserts vol 2 that features 50 authentic Croatian desserts! 😊✨✨✨
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Images shot for clients: Hotel Esplanade, Zagreb: 3,4,14,15,18; EZZA, Dubrovnik: 10; Kiki’s, Montenegro: 2; NAMI, Opatija: 5; Plavi Podrum, Volosko: 7; Valle Losva, Volosko: 8; Poklisar, Dubrovnik: 17, Kastil Slanica, Omis: 13; Trattoria Mandrac, Volosko: 12
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One of my favourite photography subjects. Also, I enjoy having a cocktail or two occasionally! How about you? 
😄🍸
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Images shot for clients: Esplanade Hotel, Zagreb: 2, 4, 5, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21; EZZA, Dubrovnik: 3, 8, 10, 11, 16, 17;
Zuzori, Dubrovnik: 18; Pupo, Dubrovnik: 19, 22; Lucin Kantun, Dubrovnik: 1; Kiki’s, Montenegro: 7; Almara’s Beach, Montenegro: 6, 23; One Suite Hotel, Dubrovnik: 9
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Images shot for clients: 
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3,16 Ruzmarin, Opatija; 7, 11, 17 Zuzori, Dubrovnik; 
21 Snogu, Zagreb; 9 Esplande Hotel, Zagreb; 
8 Poklisar, Dubrovnik; 22 Gverovic Orsan, Dubrovnik; 
13 ZORI, Palmizana; 14 Prijeko Palace Hotel, Dubrovnik; 
6,15 Kiki’s, Montenegro; 24 Kvarner Tourist Board
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‘Breakfast’ ✨ (2/8 posts on ‘Food & Drinks ‘Breakfast’ ✨ (2/8 posts on ‘Food & Drinks’ subject)
Here are some of the breakfast photos I shot over the last few years… Hope you like them and that they make you hungry! 😄❤️ 
(Photos shot for clients: 8 Prijeko Palace Hotel, Dubrovnik; 12 & 22 Esplanade Hotel, Zagreb) 
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(Photos shot for clients: 1 & 10 Hotel Esplanade, Zagreb; 
2 Restaurant Zori, Palmizana; 5 Romero, Opatija; 
6 One Suite Hotel, Dubrovnik; 7 & 12 Kiki’s restaurant, Montenegro; 11 MET Hotel, Zagreb)
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This September besides work I want to focus on fin This September besides work I want to focus on finding joy and pleasure in little ‘ordinary’ everyday things… beauty in simplicity… food that I love, coffee with friends, genuine smiles, cooler nights, fresh breeze, gentle warmth instead of heat…✨✨✨
Image shot for @quarnero_organic_cosmetic 
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