Easter Stuffing

Easter stuffing is traditional meal that can be found during Easter in Czech homes. Although it’s called stuffing, it’s mainly prepared separately and only sometimes the mixture is stuffed in poultry. Stuffing can be made with meat or simply vegetarian. Also a lot of different herbs can be used. Traditional is nettle stuffing, but basically any green herbs like lovage, parsley can be used as well.

Ingredients

  • 10 old rolls
  • 6 eggs
  • 400 g boiled smoked meat
  • 50 g of melted butter
  • salt
  • pinch of nutmeg
  • handful of chopped herbs – nettle, parsley, lovage
  • almonds

Directions

  1. Cut rolls into small cubes and dunk in cup of milk.
  2. Crack eggs and split yolks and whites.
  3. Mix butter with yolks, rolls, salt, nutmeg and herbs. Also add cutted meat.
  4. Beat egg whites and gently add to mixture.
  5. Put mixture in buttered pan and sprinkle with chopped almonds.
  6. Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C (360°F).



Traditional Easter Sweets – Boží milosti

Boží milosti (God’s mercy) are traditional Easter sweet pastry of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. It’s very fragile crispy delicacy known in the world as Angel wings and by many other names. They are excellent right after frying or even on second day, but hardly anyone can resist this temptation and they’ll disappear quickly.

Ingredients

  • 250 g of flour
  • pinch of salt
  • 50 g of butter
  • 50 g sugar
  • 2 yolks
  • 2 spoons of white wine
  • 5 spoons of sour cream
  • teaspoon of lemon peel
  • oil for frying
  • powdered sugar and vanilla sugar for coating

Directions

  1. Mix flour with all ingredients and soft butter. Knead a dough and put in fridge for 30 minutes
  2. Then roll out the dough flat and carve rectangle or any other shapes (circa 8 x 5 cm/3 x 2 inches). Cut twice in the middle of each piece.
  3. Fry shortly in adequate amount of oil. During frying the biscuits should puff up a bit. While still hot gently coat in mixed powdered and vanilla sugar.


Buchteln – Czech Sweet Buns

Buchteln or in Czech “Buchty” are traditional filled sweet buns made mainly by grandmas at countryside. Most popular fillings are plum jam, curd cheese and poppy seeds. Main character in almost every Czech fairytale packed these buns for his adventurous trip.

Ingredients

  • 20g of yeast
  • 250ml of milk
  • 60g of sugar
  • 250g of fine wheat flour
  • 250g of soft wheat flour
  • 2 yolks
  • 60g of butter
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 spoon of rum
  • pinch of salt
  • 80g of butter – use to oil the pan
  • icing sugar (powdered sugar)

Directions

  1. Heat up part of milk and blend in yeast, spoon of sugar and spoon of flour. Let rest for 10 minutes.
  2. Whip yolks  in remaining milk. Sift flour into bowl, add mixture from point 1, whiped yolks, sugar and butter. Add lemon peel, lemon juice, rum and salt and make into a dough. Cover dough with cloth and let rest for 1 hour in a warm place.
  3. Divide dough to small portions with a spoon. Make flat and add filling of your choice (poppy seed, curd cheese, plum jam).
  4. Join the corners together into the shape of bun and put it in the butter oiled pan (joined corners down). Butter every bun a bit. Before baking let rest for 20 minutes.
  5. Put in preheated oven 180°C (356°F) and bake for about 30 minutes until they have golden color.
  6. At last dust with icing sugar. Dobrou chuť!