Honey-glazed Easter bread rolls
This sweet Easter pastry made from yeast dough sweetened with honey should be baked and eaten on Maundy Thursday. It was believed that whoever eats Judas bread at dawn will enjoy good health.
Their shape is said to resemble the coiled rope on which the apostle Judas hanged himself after betraying Jesus with a kiss and causing his arrest. The coiled shape of the Judas cakes, along with the honey that is spread on them while still hot from the oven, symbolize fertility and abundance – traditional characteristics of spring.
Ingredients:
- 250 g plain flour
- 250 g semi-coarse flour
- 100 g Medokomerc honey
- 1 vanilla sugar
- 30 g yeast
- 1 egg yolk
- 250 ml lukewarm milk
- pinch of salt
- 120 g melted butter or lard
- 2 tablespoons brown rum
- lemon zest
- 1 handful of raisins (preferably soaked in rum)
- 1 egg white for brushing
Procedure:
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Mix the flour with salt and lemon zest in a bowl, make a well in the middle, crumble the yeast into it and add the vanilla sugar.
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Pour in half the milk and mix.
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Cover the bowl with a cloth and let the yeast rise. When the yeast is ready, add the remaining lukewarm milk mixed with meadow honey, rum, egg yolk, raisins and mix everything, pour in the lukewarm butter and use a wooden spoon to make a smooth, non-sticky dough. Then cover the bowl with a cloth again and let the dough rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.
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After rising, knead the dough again, divide it into smaller pieces, from which we roll out thinner, longer rolls (the thickness of a little finger), from which we create various shapes according to our imagination: spirals, snails, coils, pretzels, knots... Then we place them on a greased or paper-lined baking sheet and let them rest for a short time (about 10 minutes).
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Before placing in a preheated oven at 180 degrees, brush with beaten egg white and bake until golden brown, depending on the size, for about 15–20 minutes. You can also sprinkle the egg white with cinnamon or vanilla sugar.
If you like sweeter pastries, you don't need to brush the Judas with egg white, but brush them with meadow honey immediately after baking.
