German Osterbrot Easter Bread / #BreadBakers

German Osterbrot Easter Bread is filled with black currants, golden raisins, almonds and citrus peels. It is sweet, soft and has a cakey texture. The hot loaf is brushed with apricot jam and sprinkled with almond slivers.



Finally, Spring is in the air. Warmer days and cold nights, clear skies and bright mornings. A fragrant breeze carries the delicate aroma of the inflorescence from the wild. Tiny buds of wildflowers are excited to open up, dew perched on the arms of the new blades of grass shine like diamonds in the rays of the morning Sun.



A Purple sunbird pokes its bill into the yellow trumpet.


She lets out sonorous “cheeps” in between.


 A gentle breeze cradles a Myna on the Bougainvillea branches.
Everything is so fresh, so new and so bright. It is like a new beginning.
Our Sunday morning is generally dedicated to baking and kids love to participate in the task. Black currants have been washed clean and soaked to plump up. Almonds have been chopped. A German Easter Bread is being baked.



 We had a lot of homemade candied peels and the complete batch of peels had been chopped fine. Peels add such robust flavor to sweetbreads.  The dough has been sitting in the warm corner of the balcony. After the first rise, it is punched and black currants, almonds and peels are added. The second rise happens faster and after a cross has been scored on the surface, the bread goes into the oven. The sweet aroma wafts through as the bread turns plump and golden.


German Easter bread is usually shaped like a boule and scored with a cross. It is filled with black currants, golden raisins, almonds and citrus peel. It is a sweet and flavourful bread with a cakey texture.


The bread is glazed with apricot jam as soon as it comes out of the oven and is sprinkled with slivered almonds.



I had a jar of homemade apricot jam made last year. We brushed the hot loaf liberally with the jam.


German Osterbrot Easter Bread 

Ingredients

Sponge

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon instant dry yeast
  • 2/3 cup milk (room temperature)

Dough

  • 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons unrefined sugar (powdered)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
  • 4 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
  • 4 tablespoon orange zest/lemon zest or candied citrus peel chopped
  • 4 – 5 tablespoons warm water
  • ¼ cup black currants
  • ¼ cup golden raisins
  • ¼ cup chopped almonds
  • 2 tablespoons candied cherries for decoration (optional)

Instructions

  1. Wash black currants and raisins. Soak them in water to plump up (optional).  Keep aside.
  2. Soak almonds in hot water for 10 minutes. Remove skin and chop them.
  3. Mix all the ingredients for the sponge. Knead for 3-4 minutes. Bring the dough together into a ball. Cover and keep for 2 hours in a warm place or until puffy.
  4. In another large bowl take the sponge, flour, yeast, salt and sugar. Add 2 tablespoons of warm water and mix well till all the ingredients are incorporated. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
  5. Add butter into the dough and knead for 5-6 minutes. The dough will become soft smooth and satiny in the last stages of kneading. Knead for another 2-3 minutes and bring it together as a loose ball. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
  6. Now punch and add black currants, raisins, almonds and zest. Shape the dough into a boule (round loaf). Stretch the top and pull it down towards the bottom. Repeat the process to get a boule with a tight surface. Transfer it to a baking sheet lined with parchment sheet.
  7. Cover and leave it to rise for 45-60 minutes or until double in size.
  8. In the last stages of the second rise, preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Score a cross on the loaf with a sharp blade. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the top turns golden brown.
  9. Brush hot loaf with apricot jam and sprinkle almond slivers. You may drizzle some glaze made with icing sugar and sprinkle some candied cherries.
  10. Slice when cold.
Linking to #BreadBakers

BreadBakers










#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the Bread Bakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla has selected Easter breads from around the world as our theme.


She wrote: "We're posting after the actual holiday. I know. However, as everyone is home, sheltered-in-place to help flatten the coronavirus curve, maybe people are delaying Easter celebrations with friends and family. I know I am!"
If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at [email protected].

You’ll love the Easter Breads baked by our members





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17 comments:

  1. Oh, my goodness, Namita! Your beautiful loaf is a celebration of flavor and color. All of your photos are gorgeous but I especially love the myna bird. He is Not Pleased :D

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    1. Thank You Stacy, Myna seems to be peeved at being photographed :)

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  2. I know I say this all the time but I can't help it. Your photos are so incredible. You need to make a coffee table book.

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    Replies
    1. Thank You so much for your kind words :)

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  3. That looks like such a lovely, tender loaf! What a perfect Easter treat!

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  4. Your crumb on that gorgeous loaf is amazing! And of course your wildlife photos..... Beautiful.

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  5. What a beautiful loaf! I love all of the toppings!

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  6. Such a beautifully perfect loaf! I love the apricot glaze. And love the puffy myna too.

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  7. That is beautiful loaf. I love that glaze. I like the filling sweet bread.

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  8. Namita! I love reading your post seeing all the pics of nature, love that slivered almond loaf glazed with homemade apricot jam..yum..yum

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  9. Really gorgeous loaf. Cheerful, even.

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