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Pinca - Croatian Easter Bread

Pinca is not at all complicated to make, and most of the prep time is actually rising time.  Pinca is best eaten warm but remains fresh for a couple of days. Just wrap it in some plastic foil and cover it with a kitchen towel. It's great for breakfast and goes well with a cup of coffee or tea.

Pinca - Croatian Easter Bread

Category: Croatian cuisine, Sweet breads
Cuisine: Croatian

Recipe in PDF format (print friendly)

  • Makes two 23cm loaves
  • Prep time: 4h 15min
  • Cook time: 25min
  • Total time: 4h 40min
  • Difficulty: Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 20g fresh yeast
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 200ml tepid milk
  • 500g all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 75g butter, melted
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 egg, for egg wash
  • 75g sugar
  • 2 tablespoon vanilla sugar
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • zest of 1/2 orange
  • 60g raisins
  • 1 tablespoon dark rum

Directions

In a small bowl, combine half of the milk with 1 teaspoon of sugar and yeast. Stir and leave to proof in a warm place until it doubles in volume and becomes frothy. In the meantime, pour rum over raisins and set them aside to soak. Using a stand mixer, combine the flour and salt. Add the yeast mixture, melted butter, remaining milk, egg yolks, sugar, vanilla sugar, lemon, and orange zest. Mix on medium speed using a hook attachment until the dough comes together into a ball. Add the raisins and rum and continue mixing at slow speed for 4-5 minutes or until you get a firm dough. Shape into a ball and transfer to a large clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let it rise for 2 hours in a warm and draft-free place. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly floured working surface and punch out the air. Cut the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Transfer the dough balls onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Brush both loaves with egg wash and let them rise in a warm place for 1 hour. After an hour, brush the loaves again with egg wash and let them rise for another hour. Preheat the oven to 180°C. After 1 hour, brush the loaves with egg wash again. Using a very sharp knife or scissors, make three deep cuts in the surface of each loaf (similar to a cross). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and keep at room temperature wrapped in a kitchen towel.