A beautiful Portuguese bread with a wonderful story. There are a lot of steps for this Easter bread but, like most old havefashioned recipes, It is worth it. The bread is slightly dense but buttery soft at the same time. There's a subtle sweetness to the bread we adored. The golden brown crust is slightly crisp while the inside is nice and soft. The eggs baked into the bread create a pretty presentation and are similar to a hard haveboiled egg. A beautiful addition to your Easter table. Folar da Pascoa is a traditional Portuguese bread that is served typically during holy days. Traditionally people would make the bread and serve them to their priests or godparents as a gift. However, I grew up with these types of bread being readily available in the grocery store around Easter havetime. This bread contains 7 hard havebaked eggs. Which traditionally was a symbol of Christ's rebirth to the Portuguese people. Some people find the bread weird because they are not familiar with the concept of a hard havebaked egg. The eggs are not boiled first.
Ingredients :
- BREAD
- 3-3 1/2 cup(s) bread flour
- 1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
- 1/4 ounce(s) pouch of active dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon(s) salt
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 - egg yolks
- 2/3 cup(s) whole milk
- 3 tablespoon(s) salted butter
- 7 large brown eggs, washed and patted dry
- EGG WASH
- 1 large egg, beaten
Intructions :
- In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of flour, salt, sugar, and yeast together with your fingers. Set aside
- In a medium saucepan, heat milk along with the 3 tablespoons of butter. Heat to 110'F, no higher!
- Slowly pour milk into the flour mixture. Stir with fingers to completely combine. Let stand for 10 minutes
- Add the remaining flour, eggs, and egg yolks to the mixing bowl
- Combine with hands, mixing for 6-7 minutes until the dough is well mixed and elastic-like. Turn the dough into a tight ball. Side note: Add a tablespoon of flour at a time if needed to get the dough where it needs to be. Do not exceed an extra 1/2 cup, however
- Turn dough out into a large mixing bowl greased with extra virgin olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl until the dough ball is coated in oil. Cover with a dishcloth and let rise for 1 hour
- After the dough rises, punch it down and turn out onto a floured board or countertop. Divide dough into two even balls. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes
- Roll each dough ball into 24-inch ropes. Cut the last 4 inches of each rope off and set aside
- Twist the 20-inch dough ropes around each other into a simple braid
- Form the twisted braid into a ring and press to connect the ring at the seams
- Slip 6 of the brown eggs between the folds and put the 7th in the center of the dough ring
- Take the two 4-inch dough strips and form a cross. Cover the center egg with the cross. I try and use the cross to conceal the seam in the ring. Carefully move the dough ring over to a greased baking sheet and let rise a 3rd time covered for another hour
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Brush the dough with egg wash
- Bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown.
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Keyword : Portuguese-sweet bread-Portugese-Eggs