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Voncoka

Váno?ka

Prep Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 25 minutes
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

Dry Ingredients

  • 500 grams all purpose flour /maida plus a little extra flour for dusting the counter top
  • 4 teaspoon instant yeast see recipe notes
  • 80 grams sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • Zest of one lime /lemon
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon see recipe notes
  • 25 grams raisins
  • 50 grams fruit-cake fruit mix see recipe notes

Wet Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 200 ml lukewarm milk
  • 100 grams butter melted and lukewarm
  • 2 large egg yolks reserve the egg whites

Garnish

  • 50 gram or ⅓ cup peeled almonds

Instructions
 

  • In a large bowl, add the flour, instant yeast, sugar, ground cinnamon, lemon zest and mix well.
  • To this mix, add the vanilla essence and egg yolks.
  • Slowly pour the milk and start mixing together to form a soft and pliable dough.
  • Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and knead the dough for about 8-10 minutes. This builds the gluten.
  • Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and keep it covered. Let the dough rise for about 2 hours or till it doubles in volume. Blanch and peel almonds (see recipe notes).
  • Soak the raisins in water till it plums up and is ready to use.
  • Once the dough doubles in size, transfer to a lightly floured surface and add the drained raisins and the fruit mix and knead it to incorporate the dry fruits into the dough.
  • Divide the dough into 9 equal parts of same weight (use a weighing scale, if needed) and then roll each portion into a long rope of about 30 cm length.
  • Make a four-braided bread, followed by three-braided bread and then a two-braided bread. (See recipe notes).
  • Line a baking tray with parchment paper (optional step), and place the four-braided bread on it. Make a small length depression in the center of the four-braided bread.
  • Place the three-braided bread on top the four-braided one careful that you place it along the depression you made.
  • Follow the same procedure for three-breaded one - make a depression and then place the two-braided bread on top of the three-braided one.
  • Place tooth picks or skewers (recommended) to hold the braids in place while baking.
  • Garnish with almonds.
  • Let the dough rise for a second time for about 30 minutes (not more than that).
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit (about 180 degree Celsius).
  • Just before baking, apply egg white using a pastry brush.
  • Bake for about 35-40 minutes. Cover with an Aluminum foil tent if the bread starts to brown quickly towards the end of the baking cycle.
  • Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top (optional, but this gives the bread a snowy, festive feel).
  • Serve warm.

Notes

1. If you are using active dry yeast, it is recommended that you proof it first. [br]2. The original recipe called for nutmeg as the spice used, I substituted it with cinnamon. [br]3. The original recipe called only for raisins, but to give it a more celebratory feeling, I used some store-bought fruit-cake fruit mix. [br]4. I used the reserved egg whites to give it an egg wash just before baking.[br]5. Bread is ready when the crust is browned, and is firm. Once the bread is baked, it will sound hollow.[br]6. Blanching almonds - place the almonds in a bowl and pour some boiling water on top of the almonds. Let it rest for a couple of minutes. Peel off the skin.[br]7. Follow the youtube tutorial shared in the post to learn how to make a four braided bread. Follow the pictorial for the Zucchini bread (yeast based) to learn the three braid technique. The easiest one is the two braided one, where you just twist the two rolls against each other.[br]8. Do not tighten the braids, so that there is enough room for them to rise and expand.