Festive baked goods
sweet yeasted Easter-table bake
Easter table tradition
Easter, yeasted dough, eggs, butter, raisins, glaze, festive breakfast
Easter cake, Yeasted Easter cake
An Easter-table bake
In the context of Easter breakfast, the Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia mentions margučiai, meat dishes, and cake. Velykų pyragas is therefore best understood as a festive-table category, not one mandatory recipe. According to the Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia, until the mid-twentieth century rural households baked wheat-flour cakes only for major annual holidays, such as Easter and Christmas, and for family occasions, while a separate cake, karvojus, was baked for weddings.
After Lent, a sweeter bake enriched with eggs and butter marks a more abundant table.
Yeasted dough
Velykų pyragas is often made from yeasted dough with milk, butter, yolks, and raisins. It rises more slowly, but when baked it is aromatic and festive.
The key is not to overload it with flour. Soft dough gives a fluffy cake.
Decoration
The cake may be dusted with powdered sugar, glazed with lemon glaze, or decorated with nuts. Decoration should complement the bake, not hide it.
Margučiai, horseradish, ham, šaltiena, and other Easter foods belong beside it on the table.
Leftovers
The next day, Velykų pyragas can be toasted, used for a bread dessert, or eaten with butter and tea.
Airtight storage slows drying, but nothing fully replaces a fresh yeasted bake.
Recipe
How to bake Velykų pyragas
Rich yeasted dough rises more slowly, so Velykų pyragas needs warmth and time. Do not rush it, or the bake will be heavy.
Ingredients
- 600 g wheat flour
- 250 ml warm milk
- 25 g fresh yeast or 8 g dry yeast
- 4 egg yolks
- 120 g sugar
- 150 g butter
- 150 g raisins
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
- A pinch of salt
- Powdered sugar and lemon juice for glaze
Method
- Stir the yeast into warm milk with a spoonful of sugar and leave until foamy.
- Beat the yolks with sugar, then mix in the yeast, flour, salt, and vanilla.
- Pour in the melted butter while kneading and knead until the dough becomes elastic.
- Mix in the raisins, let the dough rise until doubled, then place it in a pan and let it rise again.
- Bake at 175 °C for 45-55 minutes. Glaze when cooled.
Notes
Raisins can be soaked in warm water, then drained and patted dry.
If the top browns quickly, cover it with baking paper.
