The April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf's Den. She challenged us to spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.
I enjoyed looking at the bakings of my Daring Bakers' colleagues, especially this one of Korena and this Serbian bread.
Nowadays, Dutch people mostly eat white breads with raisins and/or currants and almond paste (stollen) at Easter. And at Christmas too. And so do I! This year, I made this one:
But our baking history is richer than that!
Some time ago, I bought the book "Het Nederlands bakboek" (the Dutch baking book), by Gaitri Pagrach-Chandra. It is full of history and recipes, honoring Dutch baking culture. A must have for every baker in the Netherlands :-) My husband and I are planning to use every single recipe in the book, over the next years.
In this book, I found a recipe for "Duivekater", a traditional white, sweet and spicy festive bread. Something betwee cake and bread. Dense, with a soft crust. It was baked during the festive season (Sinterklaas to Easter) in North-West Holland. It's roots go back for centuries, even to the pagan religion with animal sacrifices, that were replaced by bone offerings, and then even by bone-shaped bread offerings.
The bread appears on some of the paintings of Jan Steen (17th century) and Pieter Aerts (16th century), and was very popular in the first half of the 19th century. Today, you must look for it with a magnifying glass, or in a museum in that region.
And so I decided to bake a duivekater for the Daring Bakers! Here it is, accompanied by some tulips:
Duivekater
For 1 loaf
Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour
(500 grams)
4 ½ teaspoons dry yeast
(14 grams) (or more, even 20 grams)
½ cup granulated sugar
(100 grams)
¾ teaspoon salt
zest of ½ a lemon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder
½ teaspoon cardamom
powder
½ cup and 5 tbsp milk,
lukewarm (200 ml, 210 grams)
1/3 cup melted butter (75
grams)
1 egg for the dough
1 egg and 1 egg yolk,
both for glazing
In one bowl, mix the
flour, yeast, sugar, salt, zest, nutmeg and cardamom.
In another bowl, mix
milk, melted butter and 1 egg.
Combine the wet and the
dry mixture, using a spatula.
Knead, fold, stretch and
beat the dough for 8-10 minutes, until bubbles are developing and the
dough doesn't stick to the hands any more.
Shape the dough into a
ball, cover it loosely with greased cling film, and let it rest for
an hour at room temperature, or until the dough is doubled in volume.
Grease a baking tray.
Lightly flour surface,
rolling pin and hands.
Roll the dough out into a
long oval, approximately 16 inches long.
Put the dough diagonally
on the greased baking tray, cover it with a dry towel and leave there
for 15 minutes at room temperature.
Cut 4 inches through the
dough from both sides, to make four “toes”.
Roll all the toes in a
spiral, preferably outward, stretching them a little while you do so.
Glaze the dough with the
egg, and immediately after that with the yolk.
Take a very sharp knife
and carve some decoration in the dough, 0.2 inch deep.
A traditional decoration
could look like this: (((( ))))
Let it rest for another
15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 390°F.
Bake the duivekater in
the middle of the oven, 25 / 30 minutes, until it is shining golden
brown, and the bottom sounds hollow when you knock on it.
Let it cool on a rack,
not on the baking tray.
Once it is cool, pack it
tightly in a paper bag and let it rest for at least one day at room
temperature, but five days is better.
Serve in thin slices, with good butter and a cup of tea.
Enjoy!
===
Duivekater
Voor 1 brood
Ingrediënten
500 gram patentbloem
14 gram instantgist (of meer, bijv. 20 gram)
100 gram kristalsuiker
¾ theelepel zout
rasp van ½ citroen
¼ theelepel
nootmuskaatpoeder
½ theelepel
kardemompoeder
ca. 200 ml melk, handwarm
75 gram boter, gesmolten
1 ei, losgeklopt
losgeklopt ei en 1
dooier voor het bestrijken
Bereidingswijze
Meng in een kom meel,
gist, suiker, zout, rasp, nootmuskaat, kardemom.
Meng in een andere kom
melk, gesmolten boter en ei.
Spatel het droge en het
natte mengsel door elkaar.
Kneed, rek, vouw en sla
het deeg 8-10 minuten met de hand,
tot er grote blazen
ontstaan en het deeg vanzelf van de hand loslaat.
Vorm van het deeg een
bol, leg er een stuk ingevet plasticfolie over en laat het deeg bij
kamertemperatuur 60 minuten rijzen, of tot het verdubbeld is.
Vet een bakplaat in.
Bestuif het werkvlak, de
deegroller en je handen met bloem.
Sla de deegbol plat en
rol hem verder uit tot een vlakke, smalle ovaal van 40 cm lang.
Leg het deeg diagonaal op
de ingevette bakplaat, leg er een droge doek over en laat 15 minuten
liggen.
Knip de “punten” van
de ovaal tien centimeter diep in.
Krul de vier daardoor
ontstane punten naar binnen of naar buiten op tot een spiraal, rek ze
daarbij voorzichtig uit.
Bestrijk het deeg met
losgeklopt ei en gelijk daarna met eierdooier.
Kerf met een scherp mesje
een patroon in het deeg, een halve centimeter diep.
Een traditioneel patroon
is bij voorbeeld: ((( )))
Laat nog 15 minuten
rijzen.
Verwarm de oven voor op
200°C.
Bak de duivekater in het
midden van de oven in 25-30 minuten glanzend goudbruin.
Laat op een rooster
afkoelen.
Laat een dag of vijf
onaangebroken liggen.
Snijd in dunne plakken en
besmeer met roomboter. Drink er thee bij.
Meer informatie?
http://www.bakkerijmuseum.nl/kalwiblo/index.php?t=4&h=44&s=102
Gorgeous loaf! And thanks for sharing a bit of the history of it, that makes it even more awesome!
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