It’s Easter Time!!! Or as we prefer to say – it’s Time for Šiširki (read shishirki).
If you have ever visited Croatia during Easter time and tried some of the delicacies which are usually served during this holiday – like ham and spring onions with homemade bread or lamb under the bell with potatoes – you just know that everything here is always fresh, homemade, traditional and simply exquisite!
Photo by Baška Tourist Board
And now, let’s talk about this unique and special recipe you will not find anywhere else in the world but in coastal Croatia! The Šiširak is a type of Easter Pogacha (similar to italian focaccia), in the shape of a braid with one coloured egg placed on top, made exclusively for children.
It’s sweet, delicious and something really special that kids get only as an Easter present from their parents or grandmas! Traditionally, they would have to wait with Šiširki at the mass to get this beautiful bread braid blessed. Only then could the kids run back home and eat it with warm milk or, even better, with chocolate milk. 🙂
It’s absolutely not low fat but in the end, who cares?? It’s Easter Time!
Šiširki Recipe
There are a few varieties of this delicacy: with raisins or with Croatian grape brandy, with rose oil or without any of this but, in the end, you cannot go wrong with any of them!
So, here is my favourite one:
2 kg Flour
12 Egg yolks + 6 Egg whites
375 g Margarine
1 cup Milk
4 sachets of Yeast
2 cups Granulated Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Lemon peel
4 sachets of Vanilla sugar
6 tbsp Rum
Step by Step
Kneed the dough and leave it to rise for approximately 45 minutes. Afterwords, turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and divide it into 4 smaller parts. Knit them into 4 braids and place the egg on top (or knit the braid around the egg) and bake it at 175°C for half an hour.
Or even better, if you find yourself on the Island of Krk (or anywhere along Croatian coast) for Easter Weekend, stop at a local store and treat yourself with this pure satisfaction. 🙂
Dobar tek!